TDI: Endgame pt2, Repercussions & Conclusions
by Kamari Targaryen
Summary: Sequel to Endgame pt1. Three months after the second war the campers try to rebuild their lives, but their efforts are hindered when they are forced to face the greatest challenge of their lives: fighting one of their own!
1. Three Months Later

Owen awoke in a cold sweat, his entire body shaking. He glanced around the room and took a deep breath. It had been a dream, just a dream, albeit the same dream he had been having every night since the end of the war with Drevis. It had been three months since Drevis had been defeated, three months since Owen had lost everything, three months since Izzy had died. Owen had been having the same nightmare since, the same horrific images of Izzy's lifeless body, her vengeful spirit getting revenge on Owen and the others, and Drevis laughing in the background.

Owen shook his head and got up for a glass of water. He wished th dreams would end, but he had no idea how to make them. All he knew for certain was he would not be getting any more sleep tonight. After getting a glass of water, Owen returned to his bed, switching on the TV as he did. He sighed as he began yet another night of channel surfing, trying to escape the images in his head.

The following morning Owen made his way down to breakfast. He and the others were still in Toronto at the hotel, as Harold and LeShawna needed help rebuilding the club. Owen entered the breakfast room to find Duncan and Gwen sitting at a table on the far side of the room. They appeared to be deep in conversation, but Owen walked over to them anyway.

"Hey guys." he said, his voice sullen and tired. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, no you're good dude." replied Duncan. "How are you doing?"

Owen looked at him with a mixture of sorrow and annoyance. "How do you think?" he asked, his voice still sullen.

"Another rough night?" Gwen asked, looking at Owen with concern. Owen nodded.

At that moment Geoff and Bridgette entered along with D.J., Abigail, and Ezekiel. The five of them walked over to Gwen, Duncan, and Owen and sat down. For a moment no one spoke, but then Ezekiel broke the silence. "Where is everybody?" he asked, looking around the room.

"We don't eat as a group anymore, remember." said Duncan. "Some members of this family are very fucking picky about who they hang out with these days."

"Like you." said Geoff, glancing at Duncan out of the corner of his eye.

"Fuck you." Duncan snapped. "You didn't see me stalk off when showed up did you? I'm not the one with the goddamn problem. That's-", but Duncan didn't finish his sentence.

"That's what?" Geoff asked, with another glance at Duncan.

"Never mind, it's not important." Duncan muttered.

"So, how's the healing process going?" Bridgette asked, looking at Gwen, who still wore a cast on her left arm and a brace on her right leg. She had been released from the hospital a month and a half ago, but she was still not fully recovered from the wounds she sustained fighting against Brendan DuVall.

"Oh, you know, pretty good." Gwen replied, shrugging. "How about you?"

"Well, I'm down to just a soft brace now." said Bridgette, glancing down at her right leg, which she had broken while running from Drevis' accomplice, Victor Verizzano. "It still hurts sometimes, but at least I can walk without limping now."

"Yeah, that must be great." said Gwen, who was still unsure on her feet.

"Don't worry Gwen, the brace will come off soon enough. You just have to be patient." said Bridgette, with a smile.

Gwen nodded in agreement and turned back to her coffee. Silence fell over the group once again and for several moments they just sat, staring at one another. Finally Abigail broke the silence, with a very pointed question directed at Duncan. "Any word from Aneka recently?" she asked.

The others looked up at this, as they were all curious to know exactly why Aneka had left them and where she had gone.

"No, I haven't heard anything." said Duncan, his tone dark. "And I don't think any of us ever will. Aneka was pretty damn adamant that none of us try to contact her."

"But why?" D.J. asked. "Why would she not want us to know where she is? And why did she leave us in the first place?"

"I told you, she didn't want to stay." said Duncan. "I didn't ask why." This was, of course, not true, but Duncan did not want to tell the others the real reason why Aneka had left. He hadn't even told Gwen.

At that moment the rest of the campers entered, along with Chris and Chef. Duncan cast them a dark look, but none of them seemed to notice. They walked over to the group at the table and began exchanging greetings.

"Good morning everyone." said Lindsey, flashing a smile at the group. Duncan's eyes widened when he saw the size of Lindsey's baby bump.

"Wow, Lindsey, you're really starting to show there." Duncan said with a grin.

"Yeah, I know." Lindsey said, beaming. She was the first of the campers to become pregnant and she was quite proud of this fact. It had only been three months since her pregnancy was discovered and she was already becoming accustomed to motherhood.

Unfortunately, Lindsey's happiness was not enough to ease the tensions amongst the campers. Ever since the conclusion of the second war, the group had been fractured. There were many causes for this, the first and most pressing was the mistrust of Trent, who had betrayed the others, only to prove his loyalty by acting as a spy, though not everyone was ready to forgive him. There were still the issues of the fractured relationships between Duncan and Courtney, and Gwen and Trent, as well as the relationship between Duncan and Gwen, to deal with as well. Add in the sorrow over Izzy's passing and the campers were at, quite possibly, their lowest point ever. The issue of Izzy's death was particularly troubling as her body had still not been found, and Owen was convinced there was a possibility she was still alive. The others had long since given up all hope of ever finding Izzy, alive or otherwise. This was not to say that they didn't want Izzy back, they were simply being logical about the situation, there was simply no way she could have survived the explosion that had killed Verizzano. Regardless of how hard the evidence was, however, Owen was determined to find Izzy, even if she was truly dead. He could not bare the thought of her body lost out there somewhere, with God only knows what being done to it.

Later that day, Owen made up his mind. He would go looking for Izzy, whether the others approved or not. As he left the hotel he ran into Noah and Eva, who had been closest to Izzy when she had died. Owen stared at the two a moment, before pushing past them.

"Owen, why are you doing this to yourself?" Noah asked. "She's gone, I saw the warehouse explode, and she didn't come out."

"No!" said Owen, forcefully. "There's still a chance. Just because you didn't see her get out doesn't mean she didn't."

"You're right Owen, there is a chance, a very small chance." said Eva. "But its been three months, if she is alive why hasn't she come back to us?"

"I don't know." said Owen, his voice wavering. "Maybe she's hurt and she can't. Look I don't care what you guys think, I'm going out there. I have to look, I have to at least try. Izzy was my wife, I can't just leave her out there to rot." Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stared at the other two, his eyes pleading.

"Alright Owen, we'll come with you." said Noah. "But don't get your expectations up. If we don't find her you're gonna have accept the fact that she's gone."

Owen nodded and the three of them set out in search of their fallen friend.

**A/N: So there's chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed it. As usual, I don't own TDI and all that jazz. This will be the final fic in this series and then I will be moving on to other things, so enjoy!**


	2. The Hunt For Izzy

Twenty minutes later, Owen, Noah, and Eva found themselves back in the warehouse district, standing before the burnt out ruins of Dorian's warehouse. None of them had visited this place since the end of the second war, but Owen knew it was the best place to look. If Izzy's body was to be found, this was the place it would most likely be. The three of them stared at the charred building for a moment before beginning their search. It was difficult work, as they had to watch out for broken glass, twisted metal, and splintered wood. There was no sign of human remains, Izzy's or Verizzano's, but Owen would not give up.

As they moved towards the water, Noah noticed something. A shiny piece of metal, charred by the explosion that had a familiar look to it. Noah picked it up and realized, with amazement, that it was part of Izzy's necklace which Owen had given her when they got engaged.

"Hey guys, look at this." Noah said showing the broken necklace to the other two. "I think it's a piece of Izzy's necklace."

Owen took the twisted chunk of metal from Noah and examined it closer. He knew immediately that Noah's assumption was correct, this was indeed Izzy's necklace. Tears sprang to his eyes as he stared at the tiny, twisted fragment, knowing that this almost certainly sealed Izzy's fate. If her necklace was torn apart the explosion, was there any way she could have survived it?

Owen walked towards the water, his eyes wandering aimlessly around the scene. Suddenly he spotted another bit of shiny metal. He knelt and picked it up, realizing as he did so that it was another piece of the necklace. Glancing around, Owen found several more bits and with each one, new hope flared within him, until he realized where they lead. The final piece of the necklace lay on a half submerged piece of concrete. Owen glanced at the other two and then stared out across the water.

Eva and Noah followed Owen's gaze, realizing what he had figured out. "She leaped into the water." Eva whispered. "She wasn't in the building."

"No, it appears she wasn't." Noah agreed. "But if she made it to the water, why didn't she resurface afterwards?"

"The explosion." Owen answered. He was shaking and it was obvious he was crying. He turned to the others and fell to his knees.

"The force of the explosion knocked her out." said Noah, completing Owen's thought. "She didn't jump from the warehouse, she was thrown out, by the explosion. But then, she must have been running that way in the first place, meaning she was intending to jump. She was trying to escape, she knew she could do it, that's why she locked the door behind her when she went in."

Eva's eyes widened as these revelations washed over them. They had thought Izzy was being self-sacrificing when she had entered the warehouse alone, but she had been intending to escape all along. How could they have been so stupid? Of course Izzy had had a plan, she always had a plan, but this one had not quite been good enough. There was no way, fast as she was, that Izzy could have outrun that explosion.

"So, what does this mean?" Eva asked, looking at Noah. "Is their a chance she survived?"

"I wish I could say there was." Noah replied. "But given the size of the explosion and the force it generated, she would have been slammed into the water with such force that she would have been knocked unconscious immediately. There was no chance of survival after that."

"Don't say that, don't you fucking say that." Owen shouted, rounding on Noah. "Don't you dare tell me she's gone. She could have survived and I'm not giving up yet."

"Owen, I don't mean to be callous, but you have to look at the facts." said Noah. "There is simply no way Izzy could have survived. She's gone my friend, she's go-" WHAM! Owen drilled Noah in the face with a right hook, knocking Noah to the ground.

"OWEN!" Eva cried. "What the hell are you doing?" She grabbed his fist as he prepared to hit Noah again and held him back. "What are you attacking Noah for?"

"He's being an uncaring asshat." Owen snapped. He looked at Noah. "Why would you say such things about my wife? Why can't she still be alive?"

"Owen." said Eva, her voice kind. "Noah is not trying be cruel. He's simply stating the facts. We want Izzy back too, but the evidence suggests she did not survive. We will continue searching, but you have to come to grips with this, your wife is almost certainly gone."

Owen nodded and Eva released him. "I just want her back." Owen said, his voice wavering as the tears began again. "I just want my wife back, is that so much to ask?"

"No, Owen it's not." said Noah, pulling himself back to his feet. "We know how much you cared for Izzy and I know there will never be a way to fill that hole. It is natural to react with anger and sorrow, but the only way for you to move on is to let Izzy go."

Owen stared a Noah for a long moment before finally conceding. "I'm sorry for hitting you." he said. "I didn't mean to, I just didn't want to hear what you were saying." Noah nodded, but did not speak. Owen looked at the fragmented necklace clutched in his hand and turned towards the water. Without a second thought he tossed the fragments into the water and watched them sink below the surface. "Goodbye Izzy, my love." he whispered. "Know that I will miss you eternally and that you were always the light of my life."

With that, he turned and headed back towards the hotel. Eva and Noah hesitated for a moment before following him. They walked with heads bowed, knowing the world would never be the same. Izzy was gone and the world had grown a little darker.


	3. The Process of Rebuilding

Owen, Noah, and Eva returned to the hotel to find the others waiting for them. Duncan waved at them as they approached but they did not return the gesture. It was obvious to the others that Izzy had not been found, for if she had she would have been with Owen, regardless of what state she had been found in. Though they had hoped, none of them were really surprised that Izzy had not been found, it had been obvious from the beginning that she was no longer on this plane. Still, the others could not help feeling Owen's pain. Izzy had been their friend too, and now that her death was truly confirmed a great wave of sadness swept through the campers.

Owen entered the hotel and walked past the others without a word. Noah and Eva stopped to tell the others what they had found.

"No luck huh?" Duncan asked, without looking at Noah and Eva.

"No, we confirmed what we already knew, Izzy is gone." said Noah. "We found bits of the necklace Owen gave her when they got engaged, but that's it. She appears to have made it out of the warehouse, but the force of the explosion threw her into the water. She was most likely knocked unconscious upon impact and probably drowned." He looked away from the others as his emotions finally consumed him.

"Oh God." said Duncan, as the realization of just how Izzy's life had ended hit him. "I can't believe she's gone. How did Owen react?"

"How do you think he reacted?" Eva snapped. "Izzy was his wife and we just confirmed she's dead. How would you have reacted if it had been Gwen or Courtney?"

"I would have been devastated." Duncan muttered. "And you don't have to tear me a new one, I was only asking."

"Sorry." said Eva. "Its just, sometimes, you ask really stupid questions."

"Well, I apologize for that." Duncan muttered.

"Someone should be with Owen right now." said Beth. "He shouldn't be alone at a time like this, it's not good for him."

"Yeah, I'll go keep him company." said D.J. "I think I can relate to what he's going through." The truth was, they could all relate to what Owen was going through, as they had all lost the person they loved at some point since the first war began. But D.J. had been the last to experience this pain and so he was the most familiar with it at the moment.

Several hours later, Duncan sat alone on the roof of the hotel staring up at the stars. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Trent, Gwen, and Courtney had joined him until they were sitting next to him. Duncan glanced at the other three before returning to his thoughts. For several moments they sat in silence and then Duncan's curiosity got the better of him.

"Alright, what do you guys want?" he asked, looking at the other three.

"We're just sitting here dude." said Trent. "What, we can't do that?"

"Don't pull that shit with me Trent." Duncan growled as he stood up. "I know you three want something from me so what is it?"

"We just want to talk." said Gwen. "And to know what you were thinking about."

"I was just thinking about Owen." said Duncan. "I mean, we've all lost each other before, but this is different. Izzy won't be coming back and now Owen has to live with the knowledge that his wife is lying somewhere on the bottom of Lake Ontario."

"Yeah, I feel bad for him too." said Courtney. "I wish I had a way to comfort him."

"There is no true way to comfort him." said Duncan. "The pain of losing someone you love never goes away, it just gets less painful with time." At the moment, Duncan realized what the other three had come to talk about. He stared at them a moment and then looked out across the city.

"I know why you're here." he muttered. "You want to talk about our relationships, don't you?" He glanced at the others and read the answer in their eyes.

"Yes, that is why we are here." said Trent. "We think it is time to begin the process of rebuilding."

"Rebuilding huh?" Duncan asked. "I'm not sure there's a lot left to rebuild."

"Oh come on Duncan, don't be an asshat." said Gwen. "You know as well as we do that this is never going to work. We can't spend the rest of our lives mistrusting and despising one another."

"And why can't we do that?" Duncan asked. "I think it's a damn fine plan."

"We can't keep living this way because we're a family." said Courtney. "You know that better than anyone."

"And how do I know this won't happen again?" Duncan asked, staring intently at the other three. "Say we do rebuild the burnt bridges and everything goes back to the way it was, who's to say this kind of shit won't happen again? And how do you know if we can even fix this?"

"We're not saying it's going to be easy." replied Gwen. "Hell, it took a lot just for the three of us to come up here tonight, but I think we can fix this. We at least have an obligation to try."

Duncan sighed. "Alright, we'll try, but I want to know exactly what you three have in mind before we do anything."

"We are going to go back to the original couples." said Gwen. "You and Courtney, me and Trent, what we had before we fucked this all up."

"That's never going to work." said Duncan. "For starters, I'd have to end things with you. Then Courtney would have to forgive me, and you'd have to forgive Trent, and we both know none of that is going to happen."

"Yes, it is." said Gwen. "Look, Duncan I love you, but I love Trent more, I always have. And you love Courtney, you know you do. I know a lot of people think you and I are the perfect match, but we're not and the longer we continue to delude ourselves into believing that the longer we are going to suffer. This whole thing is messed up, and I'll be the first to admit that. We have been friends for over six years, the four of us, and we are destroying that friendship by having these romantic relationships. Look at Trent, he was already pushed to the extreme once, what happens if you, or me, or Courtney does something like that? Just because Trent came back to us, doesn't mean one of us would. So we have to face the truth, we have have to end the relationships we have now and start over fresh with the ones we began with, otherwise we will only continue to dwell on our hatred and rage."

The other three stared at Gwen for a moment following her speech, before Trent moved to her side. "I promise you Gwen, here and now, that from this moment forward I will do everything in my power to regain the fire we once had." Gwen smiled at him and then looked at Duncan and Courtney, who were looking at each other with uncomfortable looks.

After another moment of silence, Courtney sighed and spoke. "I don't know if I can forgive you Duncan, but I can try. Gwen is right, we have to try or we will never know happiness again."

Duncan stared into Courtney's eyes before speaking. "I know this must be done, and even though I am not convinced it will work, I too will try to rebuild the burnt bridges."

"Well, that settles that." said Gwen. "With any luck, we will someday return to the place we were at before all of this shit."

The other three nodded in agreement. All four of them knew deep inside that they had been waiting for this day to come, waiting for the chance to set things right. The time had finally come, now all they had to do was make it work.

**A/N: Okay, so admitedly this chapter is kind of shitty and I know it's probably not what some of you wanted to see happen, but there are deeper reasons why I had these four fix their broken relationships. Don't worry, all will be explained in time.**


	4. Izzy's Journey pt1

**Three Months Ago: **

Izzy glanced at Verizzano as she ran across the warehouse. She thought she saw him smile, but she couldn't be sure and she didn't have time to look again. She could feel the heat of the explosion as it began to engulf the warehouse and knew she had only seconds to make it to the water side exit. She reached the exit just as the final set of explosives went off, but Izzy did not look back to see if Verizzano was still standing. She took a deep breath and leaped from the building, aiming for the water.

Izzy felt the force of the explosion catch her and throw her towards the water. She slammed into the lake, water flooding in through her nose and mouth, filling her lungs. She felt a pop somewhere in her lower back, but felt no pain as the darkness overtook her. Her last thought was of Owen and then she was gone.

Her soul drifted, entering the blinding white of the ether between worlds. It was just as beautiful as D.J. had described it. Izzy glanced around her and found, to her astonishment, the last person she had ever expected to see, Jessica Enverson her handler with the R.C.M.P.

"Jess?" Izzy whispered. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Didn't anyone tell you Izzy?" Jessica asked. "I was killed in a traffic accident more than a year ago. Some drunk t-boned me and I woke up in the Ghost World."

"Oh, God Jess, I didn't know." said Izzy. "No one told me. That explains why you weren't at my wedding."

"Yes, I'm sorry I missed that." Jessica said, her voice full of sorrow. "I'm sorry for sounding so self pitying, it is nice to see you again Izzy. Although it would have been better if we could have met under better circumstances."

"Yeah." said Izzy. "I wish I could have seen you again before you died. We could have burned down another R.C.M.P. Station or something."

Jessica laughed. "Yeah, that would have been fun, but we won't get the chance to do it and unfortunately we won't get to continue this conversation either."

"Why not?" Izzy asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Because, you are not part of the afterlife yet." said Jessica. "You have to go back, it is not yet your time to pass on."

"But, how is that possible?" Izzy asked. "There is no way I should have survived that explosion or the impact from the water."

"Yes, well, sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will." said Jessica. "Go back Izzy, you have so much left to live for. I do want to say one more thing, you may find it hard to move when you wake up, but don't worry it's not anything serious." She smiled and began fading away.

"Thank you Jessica, for everything." said Izzy, as she drifted back towards life.

Izzy awoke to find herself lying in a strange bed. Her head was pounding and the lights hurt her eyes. She tried to sit up, but found herself unable to move. For a moment, she panicked, but then she remembered Jessica's words. Izzy took a deep breath and a sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped at the pain and retched, but manged to keep the vomit down. Again she tried to sit up, but her spine did not seem to want to bend. Izzy pushed herself and heard a crack, making her freeze.

"Whoa there, let's not push yourself to much." a voice called. "You'll do more damage."

Izzy looked around for the source of the voice, her eyes finding a young man with long hair and a scruffy beard. He was watching her intently, a kind expression on his face.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Izzy asked, her voice horse and croaky.

"Now, now don't get all suspicious." the man said, walking over to her. "My name is John McCormac and your on my boat."

Izzy looked at him, her expression confused. "Your boat?" she asked.

"Yeah, my boat." John replied. "I'm a fisherman and a doctor. My crew and I fished you out of the lake, thought you were dead at first."

"The lake?" Izzy asked. "You fished me out of the lake?"

"Yep, no idea what you were doin' in there though." said John.

Suddenly it all came back to her, a flood of memories Izzy had almost forgotten. She had been fighting Verizzano, the explosives had failed, she had fixed them, triggered the explosion and then been thrown into the lake. She had entered the ether and seen Jessica and then she had woken up here.

"I think I was fighting an assassin and I blew up a warehouse to kill him." said Izzy. "That's how I ended up in the lake, the force of the explosion threw me into the water."

"Hmm, that certainly fits with what we saw when we found you." said John. "There was a warehouse that looked like it had been blown to hell and signs of a battle. It's been all over the news too." He shrugged.

"Did the news say who won or who the survivors were?" Izzy asked.

"No." John replied. "It's kinda strange, you think they would have, but there's nothing on any of that."

Izzy stared at him a moment and then tried for a third time to sit up. Once again, she failed. "Uh, why can't I sit up?" she asked. "And why do I have no feeling in my legs?"

John looked at her a moment before answering. "Um, well, you're paralyzed from the waist down." he said, looking Izzy in the eye. "Your spine is completely severed right above your hips."

Izzy stared at him for a long moment before she registered what he had said. "Paralyzed?" she asked. "Permanently paralyzed?" John nodded. Izzy stared at him a moment longer and then began to cry, the tears burning in her eyes.

"Hey now, don't cry. It'll be okay." said John, his voice calm and soothing. "Being paralyzed isn't so bad, at least your alive. There are far worse things than paralysis, my granddad was paralyzed in World War II and he was still able to do many of things he enjoyed."

Izzy looked at him and smiled through her tears. John was right, at least she was still alive. But paralysis had always been one of Izzy's greatest fears and now it had happened to her. No matter what John said, she would never be fully okay with this, but for now she would accept it as she didn't seem to have any other options.

For the next week the only person Izzy saw was John, and Owen when she slept. She knew there were four other people on the boat, John's crew, but she had not yet met any of them. Finally two weeks after waking up on the boat John brought Izzy out to meet the rest of the crew and get some fresh air. Izzy drew a deep breath as John wheeled her bed onto the deck, her eyes falling on the crew. John smiled and introduced the crew. "Okay, this here is Dax Goodman." he said, indicating a tall, muscular black man with dreadlocks. Dax nodded.

"This is Tania Sanchez." he said, gesturing at a pale skinned woman, with long dark hair. Tania smiled and waved.

"Shoji Ruika." John said, indicating a Japanese man with spiky hair and glasses. Shoji smiled and bowed. "And finally, Kyle Holmen." He indicated a big bellied man with a shaved head and goatee.

John turned to his crew. "And this, is Isabella Dockins who prefers to go by Izzy." Izzy smiled and nodded. The crew gave greetings and then John turned back to Izzy. "Welcome Izzy, to the _Iron Dragon_." Izzy smiled again, liking the name of the boat. She wanted to get back to the others, but for now she was willing to live with these strangers.

**A/N: Okay, so a few notes for clarification. First, yes Izzy is still alive and I know some of you are going to be annoyed that I brought a character back from the dead again, but I promise, this is the last time it'll happen. Also, I decided that the reason Izzy was on the run from the RCMP is cuz she was training with them and "accidentally" burned down her station. And finally, this is part one of a two part chapter that chronicles Izzy's journey back to the gang, though I will put no more breaks to indicate the passage of time so the time jumps may seem a bit wonky, sorry. **


	5. Izzy's Journey pt2

For the next two weeks Izzy slowly adjusted to her new life. She found that John's words were fairly accurate, being paralyzed was not as bad as she had thought it would be. John had transferred her from her bed to a wheelchair, as the bed was difficult to move around the boat. Izzy was glad for the ability to sit up once again and to have the ability to move herself around. She had greatly disliked having to be helped with everything, as she had always been a free spirit who could take care of herself. There were still things she needed help with, but the wheelchair provided her with a greater sense of freedom.

As Izzy adjusted to life on the _Iron Dragon_ she also began to learn more about John and his crew. John was a third generation fisherman, whose father and grandfather had both fished in the Atlantic. Dax was the son of Jamaican immigrants, just like D.J. Tania had been born in Detroit to illegal Mexican immigrants and holds citizenship in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Shoji was born in Tokyo and his family moved to Toronto when he was thirteen. Kyle was a lifelong resident of Toronto and, along with Dax, was John's closest friend.

All of the crew were helpful to Izzy and treated her as if she had always been a part of their family. Despite their kindness, Izzy found herself longing for her own family. She missed Owen and the others, and still had no idea if they had even survived the war. Izzy had no idea how to go about finding this out though. She was confined to the boat and there had been no mention in the papers or on the news of the results of the war. There had been no mention of the war at all, in fact. But Izzy had to know, even if she couldn't get back to them, she had know if her family was alive.

She finally brought the subject up at dinner one night. "So, I was wondering if it would be possible to take a trip off the boat for awhile." she said casually.

The table went silent and John looked at her. "And why would you be wondering such a thing Izzy?" he asked.

"I want, no, I need to know if my family is alive." Izzy replied, staring into John's eyes. "I have to know if they survived the war that left me like this."

"Oh, I see." said John. He was silent for a moment and he had a sullen look on his face. "I don't think that will be possible anytime soon."

"What? Why not?" Izzy asked, astonished that John would be so unreceptive to her idea.

"Well, we have work to do, fish to catch." John replied. "We don't have time to go looking for your friends." He emphasized the word with a dark look.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Izzy asked, her anger starting to surface. "Do you not want me to know?"

John didn't answer. Izzy looked at him and then turned her attention to the crew. Her eyes met with Dax's who nodded.

"John, we really should give her the chance to find out what happened." Dax said, looking at John, who was staring at the table.

"I agree with Dax." said Tania. "We don't have the right to hold her, she's not our prisoner."

Shoji and Kyle both nodded in agreement. Izzy smiled at them, though she was surprised they were all taking her side. She had expected at least one of them to support John.

"So, your all going to side against me on this huh?" John asked. "Well I ask you this, why does she need to know? Why can't she just let go of the past and accept that she's one of us? We rescued her, didn't we?"

"Yes, but that doesn't give us the right to control her." said Shoji, with a nod towards Izzy. "Like Tania said, Izzy's not our prisoner."

"The answer is no." said John. "We're not going and that's final." He stood and stormed off in the direction of the cabin. Izzy glared at him as he left and then hung her head. Would she never get a chance to know the outcome?

Later that night, Izzy found herself sitting at the back of the deck, staring out across the water at the glowing lights of the city. As she sat, she was joined by Dax and Tania, who were both looking concerned.

"Don't worry about John, he'll come around to his senses." said Dax as he sat down next to Izzy's wheelchair. "He can just be a bit stubborn sometimes."

"But why won't he let me leave the boat?" Izzy asked, looking at Dax.

"He likes you." said Tania. "He's been looking for someone for a long time now and he thinks he's found what he's looking for in you."

Izzy stared at Tania a moment before speaking. "What?" she asked. "What on God's green Earth would make him think that? I'm married and he knows that."

"Yes, he does." said Dax. "And that is why he doesn't want you to find out if your family survived. He knows that if they are alive you'll go back to them and if Owen, in particular, is alive then he can't have you."

Izzy stared at the two of them, unsure how to respond to this new information. Her mind recoiled from the thought of being with John. True, he had saved her and he had made sure she was comfortable and had a smooth transition into a life a paraplegic, but she did not want to be with him. The only person she had ever wanted to be with was Owen and John was keeping her from knowing if Owen was alive. She could not stand for this. Without looking at the other two, she swung he wheelchair around and headed for the cabin.

"Izzy, where are you going?" Tania asked, looking at her in surprise.

"To make that bastard take me back to the city." Izzy growled, without looking back. She reached the stairway to the cabin and found she could not get up inside. "JOHN, YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, WE NEED TO TALK!" she screamed.

John appeared at the top of the staircase and stared down at Izzy. "We have nothing to talk about." he snarled.

"No, you asshat, we have all sorts of shit to talk about." Izzy spat. "Now you get down here or there will be hell to pay."

With one leap, John landed in front of her. He grabbed her by the shirt and lifted from her chair, staring at her menacingly. "Don't you ever threaten me on my boat." he snarled. "You're a guest here, and don't you forget it." Izzy stared back at him, not the least bit intimidated.

"Get your goddamn hands off of me." she breathed, her voice full of hatred. The crew stood around them, staring at John in shock. After another tense moment, he released Izzy and stormed back up into the cabin.

"Hey, you get back here, we're not done!" Izzy shouted, but John ignored her.

"Let it go Izzy, it's not worth fighting him right now." said Kyle. "Give him a couple days to cool off and then go to him, he'll be more receptive." Izzy reluctantly nodded and wheeled herself down to her room.

As it would turn out, it would be more than a month before John would be willing to talk, ultimately agreeing to find the other campers.


	6. The Return of Kaleidoscope

**Present Day:**

Owen sat alone in his room, staring blankly at the wall. It had been a week since he, Noah, and Eva had gone in search of Izzy, and Owen could still not bring himself to fully accept the truth. He had talked with D.J., Abigail, Chef, Gwen, and Trent, among others but still felt no comfort. Nothing the others said would make Owen feel any better. There was nothing in this world or any other that gave Owen any joy anymore, life just wasn't fun without Izzy. Owen felt like the sun had extinguished and the world had gone cold, frozen without the radiant heat of Izzy's star.

A sudden knock at the door drew Owen's attention, but he did not move. "Owen?" a voice asked. "Owen, it's Eva. Can I come in?"

Owen sighed and slid off the bed. He made his way over to the door and wrenched it open, finding Eva paused with her hand raised to knock again. "I don't want to talk anymore." Owen said, looking Eva in the eye.

"I'm not here to talk." said Eva. "I just think you shouldn't spend every day alone."

"It doesn't matter." Owen muttered. "I'm alone whether other people are in the room or not. I will always be alone now."

"No, you won't." said Eva. Her voice was calm, but there was force behind it. "Owen, I know you miss Izzy, but you have to get past this. The rest of us are still here for you and we have so many things to look forward to. Lindsey is gonna have a baby in a few months, LeShawna and Harold are planning their wedding, and Gwen, Duncan, Trent, and Courtney seem to have repaired their burnt bridges."

Owen glared at her for a moment before speaking. "You think any of that matters to me now?" he asked. "I lost my wife Eva, don't you understand that? I don't give a shit about weddings, or babies, or repaired relationships, none of it matters."

Eva stared at Owen, her expression darkening. "Fine." she snapped. "If you want to wallow in your self loathing and sorrow go ahead. See if I care. But don't you ever forget that Izzy was my friend too and I miss her just as much as you do." With that she stormed out of the room, slamming the door as she went.

Eva stormed down the hall, tears stinging in her eyes. All she had wanted to do was help Owen out, why did he have to be such an asshole? Didn't he understand that he wasn't the only one who was suffering? Eva was so focused on her anger that she didn't see D.J. until she had ran into him, knocking them both to the ground. Disoriented, it took Eva a moment to realize Abigail was there too.

"Whoa there Eva, where's the fire?" Abigail asked, pulling Eva to her feet. Eva didn't answer and didn't look at the other two.

"Eva, what's wrong?" D.J. asked, as he heaved himself to his feet.

"Ask Owen." Eva muttered, still not looking at them.

"Huh?" said D.J. "What do you mean, ask Owen? Eva what's going on?"

Eva looked at them, wiping her tears away as she did. "I just went to talk to Owen and he got all pissy with me, said nothing matters any more."

"Well, Eva, Owen is in pain." said Abigail. "He's still trying to come to terms with Izzy's death, it can't be easy for him."

"But why does he have to act like an asshole?" Eva asked. "It's been more than three months since Izzy died, why can't he just let it go? And the way he acts, like he's the only one who misses her. Doesn't he understand we all miss her?"

"I'm sure he does, but it's not easy for Owen to say that." said Abigail. "Because if Owen acknowledges that we all miss Izzy too, that will force him to accept that she is gone, and I don't think Owen is ready for that."

"That still doesn't excuse his behavior." said Noah, as he walked up to them. "Sorry, I was listening around the corner."

"Look, maybe we should talk to Owen, make him see what he's doing." said D.J.

"I doubt he'll listen." muttered Eva, her eyes going dark again.

"Yes, but it is worth a shot." said Noah, nodding towards D.J. With that the four of them made their way down the hall to Owen's room. D.J. knocked once and Owen answered, a look of disgruntlement on his face.

"Owen, we need to talk." said D.J. "We think you've acting like-" Before D.J. could finish his sentence the phone rang and Owen turned to answer it. The other four followed him into the room, watching him intently as he took the call.

"Hello, who is this?" Owen asked, speaking into the receiver. The others could not hear the voice on the other end of the line, but from Owen's expression, they could tell that whatever was being said was clearly affecting him. After several moments of silence, Owen spoke again. "Oh, God. Thank you so much." With that, he hung up the phone and turned to the others, a look of shock on his face.

"Owen, who was that?" Noah asked, puzzled by Owen's expression.

"That was-Izzy's still alive!" Owen replied, changing course in mid sentence.

"What?" Eva asked, staring at Owen in concern. "Are you sure that's what this person said?" She looked at the others, who were just as concerned as she was.

"Yes." said Owen. "He said Izzy is still alive. She's been living on a fishing boat for the last three months, recovering from her injuries. They fished her out of the lake."

"Wait, they?" D.J. asked. "Who are they, exactly?" He fixed Owen with a serious stare.

"I don't know, does it matter?" Owen asked. "They have Izzy. She's alive, and they have her. We gotta go get her."

"Hold on just a second big guy." said Abigail. "Let's think about this for a moment. You just got a mysterious call from someone claiming they have Izzy alive. First of all, how do we know that's true? And second, how do we know this isn't a trap? All the evidence points to her being dead, and I know you want her back, but you can't just go running off to get her back because some fisherman calls you and says she's alive."

"Why not?" Owen asked, his voice impatient.

"Because you could end up getting yourself killed, that's why." said Abigail. "We will go investigate this claim, but we will do it as a group, and we will have a plan."

A half hour later the five of them set out, heading down to the marina where Owen had been told to come. They arrived at a large abandoned fish shack and were greeted by Dax and Kyle, who lead them inside. Abigail glanced around the room as they entered, checking for traps or hidden sharpshooters.

"A little paranoid, are we?" asked John, as he stepped into the light. "Don't worry, nothing is going to jump out of the shadows and attack, I can assure you of that."

"And who are you, exactly?" Abigail asked, eying John with suspicion.

"My name is John McCormac, captain of the _Iron Dragon_." John replied, his tone casual. "I believe I have someone who belongs to you all and I'd like to give her back."

With that, Izzy emerged from the shadows, her wheelchair being pushed by Tania, who was flanked by Shoji. Izzy grinned at the others, who stared back at her in dumbfounded amazement.

"Holy shit." D.J. muttered, his eyes widening.

"Oh come on guys." said Izzy. "Don't act so surprised, this is me we're talking about. Of course I survived."

Owen staggered forward and lifted Izzy from her chair, pulling her into a powerful hug. "Oh God Izzy, I missed you so much." Owen sobbed. "Everyone thought you were dead, even I did, but here you are, alive and well."

"Yes, Owen, I'm here." said Izzy, tears rolling down her cheeks. "And I will never ever leave you again, I promise."

Owen smiled and placed Izzy back in her chair. He did not seem at all shocked to see her in a wheelchair, obviously John had told him about Izzy's paralysis when he called. But the others were still trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

"Uh, Izzy, I know we just got you back and all, but I have to ask, why are you in a wheelchair?" D.J. asked.

"Well, I'm paralyzed from the waist down." Izzy replied. "The impact of the explosion severed my spine and well, here I am."

D.J. and the others stared at her a moment, surprised by how well she was handling one of her greatest fears. They could not tell if she was genuinely okay with her new life or if she was just putting on a brave face.

"Well, let's get back to the hotel." said Abigail. "The others will be happy to see this."

Moments later they arrived back at the hotel and were met by the others, just as they expected. "Where the hell were you guys?" Chris asked. D.J. smiled and he and Abigail stepped aside, for Izzy to wheel herself forward.

Chris's eyes widened and there were gasps of surprise and joy from the others. "Oh my God, Izzy." Harold breathed. Izzy grinned again and waved at the rest of her family.

"Well, this is a most pleasant surprise." said Gwen. "Welcome back Izzy, we missed you."

"Yeah, I missed you guys too." Izzy replied. "And before anyone asks about the chair, I'm paralyzed, I've come to terms with it, and I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." said Geoff. The others were to glad to have Izzy back to question her at the moment anyway. Once all of the reunions were complete, Izzy turned to John and his crew.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." she said, smiling at them.

"I guess so." said John, smiling back. "It was nice to have met you Isabella Dockins."

Tania leaned in and hugged Izzy. "Goodbye Izzy, take care of yourself."

Dax, Shoji, and Kyle each said their goodbyes and the crew turned to leave. Owen reached out and caught John by the shoulder, turning him around. "Thank you." he whispered. "Thank you for saving my wife."

"It was my pleasure mate." said John. "Izzy, remember, if you and your friends ever need any help, you know where to find us."

Izzy nodded, and John and his crew left, leaving the campers to celebrate the return of Kaleidoscope.

**A/N: Okay, so like it says at the top, we're back in the present day. I'm sorry if the time span of the last two chapters was a bit confusing, but I didn't want to drag it out too much. Also, I realize it may be a bit shocking to see Eva acting so concerned, but you should be used to that by now, as the characters all act a bit differently from the show in my fics. Finally, I am going to be taking a break for the rest of the week since it's Christmas and all, so Merry Chistmas and I'll see you all on Monday. **


	7. Bonds of Love

In the days that followed Izzy's return, the campers experienced an abundance of changes, and for once all of them were positive. Izzy's return was the first of these changes. After three months of sorrow and despair, a fire of joy had been rekindled within the campers. True, Izzy had returned to them somewhat less then whole, but it did not matter. She was back and that was all the others cared about. The second change was the impending marriage of Harold and LeShawna, who would soon be joining the ranks of the maternally bonded. The third change was the date of Lindsey's delivery, which was growing ever closer. The excitement among the campers at finally having a child amongst them was intense. Katie, Sadie, and Beth, in particular were excited, since they would be the three most likely to spend time with Lindsey and Tyler's child, aside from Lindsey and Tyler themselves. The fourth and final change was the obvious repair of the breach in the relationship between Gwen, Trent, Duncan, and Courtney.

It was this that the others seemed to be most intrigued with, though they seemed to be trying to hide their interest. Unfortunately, none of them were doing a very good job at it. Heather, in particular expressed great interest in the relationships of the four. Two days after Izzy's return, she found herself sitting out by the hotel pool, discussing the matter with Justin, Ezekiel, Chris, and Chef.

"I just want to know if their really back with the appropriate partners or if their just pretending." said Heather, glancing at the pool.

"Why does it matter, eh?" Ezekiel asked. "Why does it matter who the four of them are with?" The others looked at him a moment before Heather answered.

"You don't know a lot about relationships, do you Zeke?" she asked. "True relationships are built on a foundation of lies and deceit."

"Only according to your logic." Ezekiel replied. "And last I checked, your logic is as twisted as it comes."

"Says the man who was raised by ass-backwards rednecks." Justin snorted.

"Hey, I gave up that life." Ezekiel snapped. "I realized the flaws in my logic and I changed them, and you know that. Just because Heather says something is true, doesn't mean it is, she is not an all knowing god."

"Zeke makes a fair point." said Chef. "Heather is not known for being truthful. She has been twisting and manipulating the truth since you all first arrived at Camp Wawanakwa." Ezekiel grinned and Heather stuck out her tongue. Chef sighed and continued. "That being said, Heather is not necessarily wrong. Relationships do tend to be built, at least somewhat, on lies and deceit."

Heather smiled and Ezekiel rolled his eyes. "I still say you're wrong." he muttered.

"Whatever." Heather muttered back. "I don't particularly care what you think."

"Bitch." Ezekiel growled, glaring at Heather.

"Alright, that's enough you two." said Chris. "Stop acting like you're still in high school."

"Wouldn't know what that was like." said Ezekiel. "I was home-schooled, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." said Chris. "And also remember that you were a lot less opinionated back then." He eyed Ezekiel with a look of disgruntlement.

"Times change, bub." said Ezekiel. "I couldn't stay in that mindset if I hoped to have a chance at maintaining friendships with these guys."

"Well I, for one, am glad you changed." said Justin. "I can't imagine what this family would be like without Zeke."

"Thanks Justin." Ezekiel replied. "Should we get back to our original discussion?" He glanced at Heather and then at the doorway, as if he were expecting someone to enter the room.

"Why? You've made your opinion known already." said Heather. "What use is there in continuing the conversation?"

"Well, because we'd kinda like to know a little more about what you think." said Trent, from the doorway.

Heather spun in her seat, her cheeks going pink. Ezekiel, Justin, Chris and Chef all laughed. It was obvious that Trent had been standing there for quite awhile. Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney were with him and they all looked like they wanted tie Heather down and probe her thoughts.

"I-I didn't mean to pry." Heather stammered, staring at the four.

"It's okay Heather." said Gwen, with an amused smile. "It's natural to be curious, but I can assure you that Trent and I are back together. And Duncan is back with Courtney."

"It's true." said Duncan. "We agreed to go back to the original pairings, because the new ones were just causing us all too much pain."

"Then why did you guys split and form the new pairings in the first place?" Beth asked, as she and the others joined the conversation.

"Love blossoms in the strangest places." Duncan said, shrugging. "Bridgette told me that once, back when I was trying to figure out why I liked Courtney so much. I guess it was true for me and Gwen too. And apparently it was true for Trent and Courtney."

"But that's all over now." said Courtney. "We are back where we belong, in the arms of the people we truly love."

"And we won't be breaking up again anytime soon." said Trent, with a smile at Gwen.

"Well that's nice to know." said Chef. "The bonds of love are something that should never be broken to begin with and the four of you learned that the hard way. Hopefully the rest of you learned a lesson from their mistakes and won't do that stupid shit ever."

"Oh, trust us Chef, if we can help it, it never will." said Geoff. With that question now answered, the campers turned to the next big event on the horizon, Harold and LeShawna's wedding.

**A/N: Hey folks, I'm back as promised. Hope you all had a great Christmas. Mine was good. Anyway, now that we're back to the fic, I feel I should let you all know that things are about to get very dark for the campers, but before we get to that, there is a bit of happiness to be had. Bewhere, the next chapter is another one of my shitty attempts at writing mushy romance scenes.**


	8. I'll Stay With You

Two weeks later the campers found themselves once again gathered in the church. The day had finally arrived, Harold and LeShawna were getting married. The last two weddings had been marked by unpleasant occurrences, Izzy and Owen's by Gwen's aneurysm and Lindsey and Tyler's by an uninvited appearance of Drevis and Verizzano. But nothing was going to spoil this one, the campers were sure of it.

LeShawna had chosen Gwen as her matron of honor and Bridgette, Courtney, Beth, and Heather as her bridesmaids. Harold had, to everyone's surprise, chosen Duncan as his best man and Noah, Cody, Owen, and Tyler as his groomsmen. Both Owen and Tyler agreed to Harold's request despite having wives who needed them. Truth be told, Izzy and Lindsey pushed them into it.

Harold stood at the alter, surrounded by the groomsmen and bridesmaids, waiting for LeShawna to enter. He closed his eyes for a quick prayer, but at that moment the organ began playing and his eyes snapped open. LeShawna stood at the head of the aisle, her father next to her. Harold was stunned by her beauty and smiled at her as she reached the alter. The priest rose from his seat and held his hands out, motioning for silence. The crowd complied and the pastor began to speak.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bare witness to the joining of Harold Dale Liewenski and LeShawna Kyliea Carter." The pastor's voice echoed off the walls of the silent sanctuary. Harold and LeShawna smiled at one another.

The pastor turned to the two of them, speaking to Harold first. "Do you, Harold Dale Liewenski take LeShawna Kyliea Carter to be your loftily wedded wife in good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Harold looked into LeShawna's eyes and whispered, "I do."

The pastor nodded and turned to LeShawna. "And do you, LeShawna Kyliea Carter take Harold Dale Liewenski to be your loftily wedded husband in good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

LeShawna stared back into Harold's eyes and whispered, "I do."

The pastor then turned back to the crowd. "These vows represent a sacred union between these two souls. If anyone here knows of any reason why these two should not be joined than speak now or forever hold your peace." No one moved or spoke. The pastor continued. "Then by the power vested in me by the province of Ontario I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Harold grinned and kissed LeShawna, who lifted him off the ground.

A short time later they found themselves gathered in the basement for the reception. After mingling and talking for a while Duncan stood and raised his glass. The room fell silent and Duncan cleared his throat.

"Well, here we are." he said. "LeShawna and Harold's wedding. I know many of you are surprised to see me up here. To be quite honest, I'm pretty shocked myself. Never in a million years did I expect Harold to choose me as his best man, but I'm glad you did. From the beginning, Harold and I have never quite seen eye to eye. It's fair to say we hated each other in the beginning, and maybe we still do today I don't know and it doesn't really matter. Because over the years I have come to realize that Harold is much more than the dork I thought he was. He is a loyal friend, a great leader, and a master of many talents. I am proud to call him my friend and I wish he and LeShawna a long and happy life together."

Duncan sat and Gwen stood, smiling at LeShawna as she did. "Well, I don't know if I'll be able to top Duncan's speech, but I'll try." she said. "LeShawna is a person who defines attitude. She is not afraid to say what is on her mind and she doesn't care who it offends. When we first met at Camp Wawanakwa I wasn't sure if I could befriend her, but I did. LeShawna became not only my closest friend, she became my sister. She taught me that the only things we need in this life are friends, family, and a kick ass attitude. And she made it possible for me to become the person I am today. So I thank you LeShawna and I say Harold is one lucky guy. I also wish you both a happy life and I hope you have the most fun you can. To Harold and LeShawna."

"To Harold and LeShawna." the others echoed, raising their glasses. LeShawna smiled and Harold held up his glass in salute to the others. The wedding was over and it had gone perfectly.

Later that night, Courtney sat alone outside the church staring at the sidewalk. After a few moments Duncan came out for a smoke. He spotted Courtney and froze, staring at her. They had not been completely honest with the others two weeks earlier when they had said they were back together. While they technically were, it was not the shiny happy relationship it had once been, unlike Gwen and Trent, who had truly recaptured the spark.

Duncan hesitated a moment before moving to sit beside Courtney. Courtney looked at him with teary eyes as he sat down. "Hey Court, what's up?" Duncan asked.

"I don't think I can do this Duncan." Courtney said, tears falling from her eyes. "I don't think I can keep lying to them, telling them that everything is alright between us when it's not."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." said Duncan. "And we can't keep lying to ourselves either. It's just not healthy."

Courtney stared at him, her eyes full of sorrow. "There's just one problem." she said. "I really do love you Duncan, but we've done to much damage to one another."

"Yeah." Duncan muttered. "So, where do we go from here?"

Courtney looked at him again and broke down into full on sobs. Duncan reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to be alone." Courtney sobbed. "I can't live with you, but I can't live without you either. I don't know what to do Duncan. How am I, how are we, supposed to exist if we can't love one another?" She looked up at him, but Duncan had no answer.

"Please don't leave me." Courtney whispered, wiping her tears on her sleeve.

Duncan stared at her a moment, unsure what he should say. Courtney seemed to be flip-flopping back and forth between wanting him and not and he could not be sure if she was genuinely behind her words or not. He finally decided the best course of action was to comfort her, as that was what she seemed to want most.

"Ah baby don't worry." Duncan said, pulling Courtney into his arms. "I'll stay with you forever, I'll always be there for you."

Unfortunately for Duncan, the day was fast approaching when Courtney would no longer be there for him.

**A/N: Well there you go folks, I told you it would be shitty. Okay, so maybe it's not as shitty as I thought, but whatever. I know they revealed Harold's actual last name in the show, but I couldn't remember it all so I just made something up. Also, this is my last chapter of 2010, so have a Happy New Year and I'll see you in 2011!**


	9. To Walk Again

The next day, Duncan awoke to find himself in bed with Courtney. He smiled to himself, knowing exactly how he had ended up here. Courtney could be very persuasive when she was in a bad mood and Duncan had told her he would stay. He slid quietly out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Duncan stared at himself in the mirror for a moment shaking his head. How had things gotten to this point, how had it all gone so wrong? He and Courtney had been dancing around one another since their very first meeting, but they had married, everything had been perfect. Why had they chosen to walk this road, if they had never had a reason to? Duncan had no answers, though he was keenly aware that it was, at least in part, his fault. If he had just stayed with Courtney in the first place, maybe none of this would have ever happened. Maybe if he hadn't betrayed Courtney, Trent would never have left Gwen and betrayed the group, and maybe Aneka would still be with them. Maybe, but maybe those things would have happened anyway. Duncan had no idea, he was not, after all, able to see the future.

Duncan returned to the bed, his presence drawing Courtney from slumber. She looked at him and blinked. "Ugh, Duncan what time is it?" she asked.

Duncan was about to answer when Courtney shrieked. "Ah, Duncan!" she shouted. "What are you doing here? We didn't-did we?"

Duncan looked at Courtney a moment and smiled. "Yes we did sleep together, but we didn't have sex, if that's what your asking."

Courtney sighed. "Good, sex implies commitment and we can't do that."

"That's not what you said last night." said Duncan. "I'm here because you asked me not to leave you alone."

Courtney glared at him, but she knew he was right. Her memories of their conversation from the previous night were crystal clear and she would rather not relive them at the moment. With another glance at Duncan, she gathered up her things and left the room. Duncan sighed, confused by Courtney's sudden departure. After a moment, he shrugged and made his way down for breakfast.

Duncan entered the breakfast room to find Owen and Izzy sitting in the far corner. He paused for a moment, staring at them before realizing what looked different. He had still not quite gotten used to Izzy being confined to a wheelchair. Shaking his head, Duncan walked over to them. Izzy looked over her shoulder as he approached and smiled.

"Hey Duncan." she said, her personality just as bubbly as always. "How are you doing this morning?" Owen looked at Duncan, awaiting his reaction.

"Uh, fine I guess." Duncan muttered, shrugging. He was slightly taken aback by Izzy's happiness. He would have thought that being permanently confined to a wheelchair would have dampened her spirits, but apparently he was wrong. He glanced at Owen, who shrugged.

"How are you Izzy?" Duncan asked. "Adjusting to your new life well, I see."

Izzy shrugged. "Yeah, it took some getting used to, but I've come to terms with it. Nothing I can do now, so why worry about it, right?"

Duncan nodded. Izzy's answer seemed genuine but he could sense some sort of ill feelings concealed beneath her upbeat exterior. Duncan glanced at Owen again, but Owen did not meet his gaze. Apparently, he could sense it too. Somewhere, deep inside of her, Izzy was not okay with her new life.

Later that day Owen confronted his wife about his suspicion. He was not sure exactly how he was going to ask her the question, but he knew he had to. If Izzy was truly not happy, it was not good for her to keep it bottled up like this.

"Uh, Izzy?" Owen began, still unsure of exactly what he was going to ask.

"Yes Owen." Izzy replied, looking at her husband. "Is there something you'd like to know?" Her eyes bored into his, making Owen shake with nervousness.

"Well it's just, I have to know." Owen spluttered. "Are you really okay with this, your new, less mobile life, I mean?"

Izzy stared at Owen a moment, her eyes blazing. She could not believe he was asking her such a stupid question. Did he not see that she was anything but happy about this? Was Owen really that oblivious, that with all the signs right there, staring him in the face, he could still not see the obvious truth?

Owen braced himself for the explosion he was sure was coming, but Izzy just smiled. "Of course I'm okay with it. Like I said this morning, there's nothing I can do about it."

Owen looked at his wife, still not convinced Izzy was telling the truth. "Come on Iz, tell me the truth." he said. "I know you're not really okay with this, so why don't you just tell me."

Izzy glared at him and then exploded. "Of course I'm not okay with it, you fat, stupid motherfucker!" she screamed. "For God's sake Owen, I'm fucking paralyzed. How can you possibly think that I would be okay with this? Did you think I would just accept this fate and move on? Because if you did, you really are stupid." Izzy stopped, her emotions finally getting the better of her. She looked away from Owen as the tears began to fall.

Owen stared at his wife a moment before bending down and wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay Iz, it's all gonna be okay." he whispered, patting her on the head.

"I want to walk again." Izzy choked, her face buried in Owen's shoulder.

"I know Izzy, I know." Owen whispered. "And I'm gonna make sure that you do."

The next day Owen took Izzy to the hospital to find out if there was anything that could be done to give her back the use of her legs. They were seen by a neurological expert who subjected Izzy to a battery of tests and scans. Finally after two and a half hours, he met with them in private to give them the news.

"Alright doc, give it to us straight." said Owen, as the doctor sat down. "Will my wife ever walk again?"

The doctor looked at them, his expression unpleasant. "Well, it certainly doesn't look good." he began. "Her spine was cleanly severed and that kind of damage is virtually impossible to recover from." He held up an x-ray to show them exactly where Izzy's spine had been severed. Izzy cringed at the site of the injury and so did Owen. She looked at the doctor, her eyes pleading, but his expression did not give her any hope.

"However." the doctor continued, after a moment of silence. "There may be a way to repair the damage. Using doner tissue I can reattach the severed pieces of the spinal chord, which may give her feeling again. Now I cannot guarantee that she will walk again, but if the surgery goes well and she partakes in the appropriate physical therapy, she may be able to walk again some day."

Izzy and Owen smiled, delighted by the news. They agreed to do the surgery and a date was set for three weeks later. Owen and Izzy returned to the hotel to tell the others their news. The others were just as delighted to here it as Owen and Izzy were.

"Finally." Duncan said, as the celebration commenced. "Everything is looking up for this family once again."

None of them knew it then, but that would be the last happy moment they would have for quite some time. The all too familiar darkness was looming, and this time it would take more than just their happiness.

**A/N: Hey folks, I'm back yet again! I hope you all had a Happy New Year. Can you believe it's 2011 already? What the fuck happened to 2010? Anyway, we're about to get into some really depressing stuff here in the next few chapters, so I just want to warn you of that. Also, my New Years resolution is to be more consistant in updating my fics, so hopefully that means I'll actually finish things like Moments In Time and The Price Of Power, but we'll see. I have a habit of not keeping my resolutions.**


	10. Nightmares

_The room was dark and cold, and Gwen could see her breath in the air. Something was not right about this room, but Gwen could not figure out what. She shivered as she moved deeper into the darkness, but whether from fear or cold she could not tell. Her feet found something lumpy, making her trip. Gwen threw out her hands to brace herself, landing in something wet as she did. For a moment she lay on the cold floor, her senses trying to give her some sort of answer as to where she was. But all that met her was deafening silence. Shaking her head, Gwen got to her feet, a light snapping on as she did. The light threw the room into relief and Gwen screamed in horror at what she saw. Sprawled out on the floor, drenched in blood was Courtney's lifeless body. Before she could fully process what she was seeing, the sound of a gun being cocked drew Gwen's attention. She looked up in time to see a masked figure aiming a gun at her head and then everything went black._

Gwen snapped awake, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as though she had just run a marathon. She glanced around the room expecting to find Courtney's body, but there was no one else there, besides Trent, who was still asleep. Silently Gwen slid out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, limping without her leg brace on. Reaching the sink, Gwen turned the cold water on and splashed some on her face. It was a dream, just a dream, that's all. Courtney was still alive, and probably sleeping with Duncan at the moment, so she couldn't be lying dead in some cold, dark room.

But, if that were true, why had it all felt so real?

Gwen shook her head. She was being foolish, there was no way the dream was real. Courtney was alive and that was all there was to it. Gwen sighed and returned to bed. What ever was going on in her dreams, she would figure it out in the morning.

Several hours later Gwen was awakened by the sound of Trent's voice. "Gwen, Gwen what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Huh, what?" Gwen asked, her voice groggy. "What are you talking about?"

"You were muttering in your sleep." said Trent. "You said something about Courtney being in danger and death coming for her."

"What?" Gwen asked again. "I don't understand what you're saying Trent."

"You said Courtney is going to be killed or was already dead or something." said Trent, looking at his wife with concern.

Gwen was silent. She could not think of a response and was shocked that she had been muttering loud enough for Trent to hear her.

"Gwen, is everything okay?" Trent asked after a moment. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, just a nightmare." Gwen muttered. "Don't worry about it."

Trent stared at her for a moment longer and then shrugged. Whatever was bothering Gwen, she obviously did not want to talk about it now and he did not want to argue with her. With one final glance at Gwen Trent rolled over and went back to sleep. But for Gwen, sleep was the last thing she wanted. She glanced at Trent and then slid out of bed once again. After putting on her leg brace, she hobbled across the room and stepped out into the hall.

Gwen made her way to the elevators, heading down to the first floor. Once there, she made her way to the lounge, finding it empty. She entered and sat down on a large couch in the far corner. She needed time to think and this was the perfect place to do so.

Gwen ran the events of her dream over and over in her head, but she could not draw any conclusions. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it all seemed. There was nothing about this dream that made any sense. Why would Courtney be dead? They were not at war with some psycho killer and there was no one Gwen could think of who want to kill Courtney. Of course, this did not mean that there wasn't someone who did, but who could it be? And why, if Courtney really was going to be murdered, was Gwen the one who was seeing it now? It was true that she had experienced visions of the future before, but she had been in a coma for those. It didn't make sense for her to have visions now, when there was no reason for her to.

Gwen could find no answers to these questions, but she did not want to return to her room. She remained on the couch, staring at the opposite wall, lost in thought. After a few minutes her eyelids began to droop and before she knew it sleep had taken her.

_Gwen opened her eyes to find herself standing on the roof of the hotel. She glanced around her, trying to figure out why she was up here. As she looked to her right, she saw Courtney standing on the edge of the roof. Gwen stared at Courtney a moment and then she saw the masked killer. The killer glanced at her and laughed before pushing Courtney over the edge. "COURTNEY!" Gwen screamed, rushing over to the edge. She looked down and saw Courtney's shattered body twenty stories below. As she stared in horror at this sight she heard the cold laugh of the killer and felt herself lurch forward..._

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Gwen screamed as she snapped back to reality. She sat on the couch breathing heavily again, several people staring at her in surprise. She looked around the room, her eyes finding Trent, who was standing in the middle of the room with Duncan, Chef, and Geoff. Trent moved to Gwen's side, pulling her close.

"Gwen, what happened?" he asked. "What did you see?"

"How can we be sure it wasn't just a dream?" Geoff asked, concern on his face.

"Look at her." Duncan snapped. "That's real fear on her face. If it was just a dream, it must have been pretty fucking realistic."

"Let's get her out of here, continue this discussion somewhere else." said Chef. The other three nodded and they moved out, Trent carrying Gwen.

They arrived back upstairs to find the rest of the group waiting for them. "What happened?" Bridgette asked. "We heard there was some sort of-" She stopped upon seeing Gwen. "Oh God, Gwen, what happened to her?" she gasped.

"Nothing. She just had a bad dream." said Geoff, glancing at Trent.

"It don't look like she just had a bad dream." said Owen.

"That's cause it wasn't, it was a vision." Trent snapped, placing Gwen on the bed.

"Oh God, not this vision shit again." said Heather, rolling her eyes.

"Shut up!" Trent snapped. "The last two were real and you know that." He turned to Gwen and repeated his earlier question. "What did you see honey?"

Gwen glanced around the room before speaking. "C-Courtney." she choked. "I saw Courtney's death. In both dreams or visions or whatever, she was dead."

The others stared at her in shocked silence, Duncan and Courtney particularly surprised. They had all been expecting something bad, but none of them had suspected it would be something like this.


	11. The Death of a Princess

"Could you repeat that please?" Duncan asked, after a moment of silence. "You say you saw Courtney's death? How is that possible?"

Gwen stared at him in silence. She had no answers for him or anyone else, she hadn't even figured it out herself yet. "Yes, that is what I saw." she finally said.

"But how and why?" Duncan pressed. "How are you doing this?"

"Ease up there Duncan, let her breathe." said Chef. "She's just been through hell, judging by how she looked when we found her, and she doesn't need you cramming yourself down her throat at the moment."

"But she's seen my wife's death, damn it." Duncan snapped. "I need to know everything so I can prevent this from happening."

"Yes, but you don't have to kill Gwen to get it." said Courtney, glancing at Duncan. "And incidentally, we're not married anymore, remember. We got a divorce."

"And that's supposed to make me want to protect you less?" Duncan asked.

"No, but you shouldn't kill Gwen to get the information." Courtney replied. "Give her a moment, I'm not going to be killed right now, am I?" She looked at Gwen, who shook her head. Duncan nodded and backed off.

After a moment, Noah spoke. "Not to be a know-it-all or anything, but technically we don't know for sure you're actually going to be killed at all." he said, looking from Courtney to Gwen.

"Noah's got a point." said Justin. "I mean, how do we know these weren't just dreams and not visions?"

"Oh, for God's sake, she's had visions before." Izzy snapped. "Why can't you all accept that these are real too?"

"Well for one Iz, we were facing the potential of a major threat when Gwen had her first vision." said Heather. "And for another, she's not comatose this time."

"So Gwen has to be hovering between life and death to see these visions, is that it?" Izzy asked, her temper rising. "Because, if I remember right, her second vision happened while she was asleep, not comatose. What do you say to that?"

Heather was silent, as were the others. They had completely forgotten about Gwen's second vision which had ultimately saved them the night they had met Victor Verizzano.

"Okay everybody shut up." said Duncan. "It doesn't matter what all of you think, we don't have time to debate this right now." He turned to Abigail. "Are these recent visions real or are they just nightmares?"

"I can't tell you for sure." said Abigail. "But it sounds to me like they're real. And Gwen has shown aptitude for this before. I think it is very possible that these visions are real."

"Okay, so what now?" Tyler asked. "I mean, shouldn't we be doing something about this?"

Duncan nodded and turned to Gwen. "What exactly did you see?" he asked, his voice calm.

Gwen exhaled slowly and looked at Duncan. "There were two dreams." she answered. "In the first, I was in a dark, cold room. I tripped on something, the lights came on, I saw Courtney's body and that's it. In the second I was on the room of this building with Courtney and then someone pushed her off the edge. I don't know which one is real or which one will happen, all I know is in both dreams Courtney ended up dead." She fell silent and glanced around the room.

"Is that all you saw?" Duncan asked. "Did you see the killer's face?"

"No." Gwen replied. "But in both dreams he killed me too."

"What?" said Trent, from somewhere behind Duncan. "Why didn't you tell us that sooner?"

"I didn't think it was relevant." Gwen replied, without looking at him.

"Not relevant?" Trent shouted. "How the fuck could your death not be relevant? Damn it Gwen, I just got you back, don't do shit like that to me."

Gwen looked at him and smiled. "I'm sorry." she said. "I guess I was too caught up in trying to figure out who would want to kill Courtney that I didn't think about myself."

Trent sighed, but did not respond. After a few moments of silence, Gwen stood. "Can we please continue this later?" she asked. "I really want to go to sleep."

Duncan smiled at her. "Of course." he said. With that, the campers headed back to their rooms, hoping the answers would come soon.

The following day Courtney awoke to find Duncan gone. She slid out of bed and got dressed. As she moved towards the door, she spotted a folded piece of paper lying on the floor. Curious, she picked it up and unfolded it. On it was a note, scribbled in a hand she did not recognize.

_Courtney, meet me at 415 Sheppard Ave. at 11:30 am tomorrow. H._

Courtney stared at the message a moment. It seemed very odd to her for someone to invite her to an address she had never heard of before. And who was this person H? There were many names for which the letter could stand for, Courtney knew people with two of them. But why would Heather or Harold want to meet with her at such a strange place? Courtney shrugged and headed down to breakfast, tucking the note in her pocket. She would worry about it later, once she had a full belly.

She entered the breakfast room to find Duncan sitting alone at the far table. She walked over to him and sat down. "Good morning Duncan." she said casually.

Duncan looked up from his coffee. "Hey Court." he said, his voice indifferent.

Courtney stared at him, taken aback by his abruptness. "What's up with you?" she asked.

Duncan did not answer and continued to stare at his coffee.

"Look, if this is about what I said last night about us bing divorced, I was only being honest." Courtney said.

"Yeah, well that doesn't change anything." Duncan muttered, standing up.

"Wait, Duncan don't go." Courtney said hastily. "I have something I need to show you."

Duncan sighed and sat back down. "Alright, what is it?" he asked.

Courtney pulled out the note and handed it to Duncan. "I found this on the floor of our room as I was leaving for breakfast." she said. "I don't understand what it means though."

Duncan studied the note for a moment. "Well, either it's a joke of Harold or Heather's or it's an invitation to a trap." he said. "And given Gwen's visions, I'm going to go with trap. Someone is trying to lure you out so they can kill you Court."

Courtney looked at him a moment before speaking again. "Well, I'm gonna go check it out." she said, with a smile.

Duncan choked on his last sip of coffee. "What?" he spluttered. "Are you fucking crazy?"

"Duncan keep your voice down." Courtney scolded. "And no, I'm not crazy, just curious. I want to know who this H person is and what they want with me."

"Don't be stupid." said Duncan. "You'll get yourself killed."

"There's absolutely no proof this letter was written by the person trying to kill me." said Courtney. "For all we know, it's just Heather or Harold wanting to talk."

"Yeah, cuz that makes sense." Duncan snorted. "They don't need you to talk to. Harold has LeShawna and Heather has Justin. Why in the hell would they want to talk to you anyway?"

Courtney let that comment slide and stared Duncan in the eyes. "I'm going, whether you want me to or not." she snapped, her voice full of venom.

"No, you're not." Duncan shot back, his eyes blazing.

"And who's gonna stop me?" Courtney spat. "You? I'd love to see you try."

"Oh, you would, would you?" Duncan shouted, rising to his feet.

"Yeah, I would." Courtney screamed. "Come on, tough guy, let's see how tough you really are." Duncan stared at her, but didn't move.

"You're not going and that's final." he said through clenched teeth.

Courtney glared at him and then sighed, he shoulders sagging. "Fine." she spat. "I won't go." Duncan stared at her and smiled.

"Look Court, I'm not trying to control you." Duncan said. "I'm just worried about your safety, that's all. If I let you go to that house and it is a trap and you end up getting killed, I would never forgive myself. I can't let you throw yourself recklessly into things, that's my job, remember?"

Courtney smiled and nodded. "Yes, I remember." she said. "I love you Duncan."

"I know you do." he replied. "I love you too." He leaned down and kissed her, for what would be the very last time.

The following day, Courtney slipped out of the hotel and made her way to 415 Sheppard Ave. She arrived to find a dilapidated, run down house that looked like no one had lived in it for years. For a moment, she regretted breaking Duncan's trust and coming, but she brushed the feeling aside. She walked up the front steps and found the door open. She entered the house and looked around, there didn't seem to be anyone there.

"Hello?" Courtney asked. "Is anyone here?"

"Hello Courtney." a voice replied. "Would you please close the door." Courtney obeyed and turned back towards the source of the voice.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice nervous.

"I suspect your friends will find out soon enough." the voice responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Courtney asked, her voice growing more unsteady.

"Nothing you need to worry about." the voice answered. "But, enough of these games. The time for talk is over." With that the figure raised a hand gun, aiming it at Courtney's chest.

"Wait, what're you-?" BLAM! A gun shot cut her off. Five more shots followed and Courtney hit the floor, her last breath leaving her.

**A/N: Yes, I did what you all think I just did. Courtney is dead and for the first time in one of my stories she won't be coming back. I did warn you all at the start of this fic that Izzy would be the last one to come back and after that all deaths would be permanent. Sorry if this displeases you. Also, Sheppard Ave. is a real street in Toronto, though I have no idea if there are actually houses on it. Finally, on a more happy note, today is the BCS National Tital Game. I don't know if any of you are college football fans but I am and I support the University of Oregon so, GO DUCKS!**


	12. A Grim Discovery

Duncan ran down the street, Courtney's last note clutched in his hand. Tears stung in his eyes and he prayed he was not to late. Courtney had know all along that the meeting was a trap, but she had gone anyway. She had promised him she wouldn't go and she had broken that promise. But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was finding her and making sure she was okay.

Duncan arrived at the address Courtney had been told to go to. He bolted up the stairs and through the front door. The sight that met him made him stop dead in his tracks. Courtney lay, splayed out on the floor, a pool of blood beneath her, her eyes open and glassy. She was obviously dead. Duncan had seen enough death in his life to recognize it, and if the five gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen had not kill her, the one in her head most certainly had.

He walked over to her, falling to his knees at her side. Tears streamed down Duncan's face as he gently lifted Courtney's body up. He held her body close to him and kissed the top of her head. She was still warm, and had obviously been dead for only a few minutes.

"Oh, Courtney why?" Duncan sobbed. "Why didn't you stay at the hotel? Why did you have to come to this place?" But even as he asked these questions he already knew the answers. She had come because she had wanted to, because that was the kind of person she was. Courtney had never been one to let other people stop her and somewhere deep beneath the grief Duncan was proud that she hadn't listened to him, proud that she had been strong enough to stand up for her beliefs, even if doing so had cost Courtney her life.

For several moments, Duncan simply sat there, cradling Courtney's body. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he lay her back down. He glanced around the room noticing a gun lying on the floor a short way away form Courtney. He reached out and picked up the gun. It was a .45 pistol with an empty clip. As he examined the gun her heard distant sirens and froze.

"Shit, cops." he muttered. Seconds later seven police men burst into the house. Duncan automatically dropped the gun and raised his hands in surrender. He felt a heavy blow as a cop knocked him to the ground, placing handcuffs on as he did so.

"Well, this is an unpleasant sight." Duncan heard one of the cops say. "Alright, lets get him down to the station. And call an ME to take care of the girl."

Duncan felt himself be heaved to his feet and then he was in the back of a police car.

An hour later, Duncan sat in an interrogation room, facing two cops across a cold steel table. He stared at the cops, his eyes betraying no hint of suspicion.

"So." the larger of the two cops said. He was a slightly beefy white man with a large mustache and a scar above his left eye. He stared intently at Duncan before continuing "So, you thought you'd have a little fun did you? Thought you'd find yourself a pretty young girl and take her life didn't you? Well that kind of shit doesn't fly in this town."

"Yeah, is that so." Duncan asked, keeping his expression neutral. "Well, you may not know this detective-?" Duncan stopped for the cop to fill in his name.

"Shinski. James Shinski." the detective said, glaring at Duncan.

"Well you may not know this Detective Shinski, but I'm Duncan Reynolds of TDI fame, at that pretty young girl is my ex-wife." said Duncan. "Now you may think I killed her, but like I told your friends when they arrested me, killing her is the last thing I would ever do."

"Yeah, we hear that one a lot, Mr. Reynolds, is is?" detective Shinski replied. "So you'll forgive me if I don't quite believe that bullshit."

Duncan said nothing. He could see that convincing these men of his innocence was not going to be easy. But he had no other choice, he would not go to prison and he would not make a bullshit deal. The only thing on his mind was Courtney and how he was going to burn whoever had the balls to kill her.

"So, if you didn't kill her, then where were you at approximately 11:40 this morning?" the other detective asked. He was a tall, bald black man who looked slightly younger than detective Shinski. Duncan could tell that under different circumstances he would be a fun guy to hang out with.

"Sorry, I didn't get your name." Duncan replied, staring at the detective.

"Jackson. Lemar Jackson." the man replied. "Now where were you between-?" but Duncan cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." he said. "I was at the Imperial Hotel in downtown Toronto."

"Can anyone corroborate that?" detective Jackson asked.

"Yeah, I can." said Trent, entering the room.

"And just who are you?" detective Shinski asked, eying Trent suspiciously.

"My name is Trent McKenzie." Trent replied. "I'm a friend of Duncan's and he was with me all morning." He looked at the detectives and smiled.

"Well, that sounds pretty conclusive to me, James." said detective Jackson.

"Now hold on a minute Lamar." said detective Shinski. "How do we know these two chuckle heads actually know each other."

"Oh come on dude, don't you watch TV?" Duncan asked. "We were on TDI. Total Drama Island? What you never heard of the most successful reality show Canada has ever had?"

"Nope." said detective Shinski. "If there's nothing else, lets stick him in holding."

Just then another cop entered holding something in his hand. "I got something her you may want to see." the cop said. "The ME found this on her, apparently she was carrying a tape recorder. Got everything on tape."

_That's my girl._ Duncan thought. He glanced at Trent who smiled again.

"Alright, let's hear it." said detective Shinski, after a short pause. He took the tape and played it. They heard Courtney's voice, another voice none of them recognized, and then the six gunshots, followed by silence and then the distinct sound of Duncan entering the house. There was nothing on the tape to indicate what had happened to the shooter, but it appeared the detectives were not concerned by this. They turned away from Duncan and Trent for a moment and held a brief, whispered conversation before turning back to Duncan and Trent.

"Alright, it's obvious to us that the sound of the door opening and closing was Duncan entering the house, not the shooter leaving." said detective Jackson. "So we've got nothing left to discuss here."

Duncan and Trent hesitated, not sure if they should move. After a moment of silence detective Shinski looked up at them and said "You two can go." Trent nodded and he and Duncan exited. They were met by another cop, who lead them down to the autopsy room. They entered and the ME moved to the freezer boxes. He opened number 212 and slid out Courtney's body, cold, silent, and freshly autopsied. Duncan ran his fingers along Courtney's face, tears falling once again. Trent placed a hand on Duncan's shoulder, tears leaking out of his eyes as well. It was soul crushing to stand there next to the lifeless body of one of their friends, knowing that this time, she would not come back.

**A/N: By the way, I do mean she won't come back, just so you're all aware. I know I've said that before, but this time I really do mean it, so all you Courtney fans out there don't get your hopes up, I'll only crush them.**


	13. Who Killed Courtney?

Duncan and Trent returned to the hotel to find the others waiting for them. A deathly silence hung over the group, no one daring to ask the question they all wanted to. Finally, after several moments Bridgette stepped forward. She looked Duncan directly in the eye and asked, "Duncan, is it true? Is what they're saying on the news true? Is Courtney really dead?"

Duncan did not answer, but Bridgette could read the answer in is sorrowful eyes. She looked at Trent, who nodded. "Yes." he whispered, looking at the group. "It's true, Courtney is dead."

The others stared at Duncan and Trent in silence, all of them too shocked to speak. Geoff bowed his head in sorrow, removing his hat as he did. Bridgette burst into tears and Katie, Sadie, Lindsey, Beth, Cody, and Tyler followed suit. Noah looked at the floor, running a hand through his hair. Chef muttered a slew of curses and Chris held hid head in his hands. D.J. held Abigail close to him while she continued to stare at Duncan. Ezekiel, Eve, Izzy, Owen, Harold, LeShawna and Justin simply stood in silence. Heather slumped against the wall, sliding down and curling into a ball, tears falling down her face. And Gwen walked forward and embraced Duncan.

For what seemed like a million eternities they all stood there, hoping against all hope that this was nothing but some sick nightmare. But deep inside of their souls, all of them knew it was real, Courtney was really gone and there was no getting her back. Death had finally begun to collect on their past debts. Finally Gwen released Duncan and moved to Trent's side. Duncan looked at his family for a moment and then turned and walked out of the hotel.

"Duncan wait!" Tyler called, moving to stop him. Chef reached out and caught Tyler by the shoulder, holding him back.

"Let him go Tyler." Chef muttered. "He needs to be alone right now."

"But Chef, shouldn't we go after him, make sure he doesn't try to hurt himself?" Beth asked, glancing at Chef.

"No, let him sort this out alone for now." said Chef. "He'll be back in a while, don't worry."

Beth nodded and the others headed back up to their rooms, each of them still trying to come to grips with the loss of Courtney.

The next morning the campers found themselves sitting alone in the breakfast room, not one of them speaking. The pain and sorrow of Courtney's death was still thick in the air and no one could think of anything to say. Duncan had still not returned to the hotel, and the others didn't feel right discussing the death of his wife.

"You know what I don't get?" Cody suddenly asked, abruptly breaking the silence. "I don't get who would want to kill her? Why would anyone want to do such a thing? Courtney was a nice person, why would anyone want to take her life?"

"There's a lot of reasons why people kill Cody." Noah replied.

"Yes, but why Courtney?" Cody asked. "I mean, what logical reason would anyone have for killing her? And better yet, who did it?"

"The cops thought it was Duncan." Trent muttered from the head of the table.

"What? Those idiots actually thought Duncan did it?" Izzy asked. "Don't they know Courtney is his wife?"

"I think that's exactly why they thought it was him." said Trent. "The vast majority of murders are committed by someone the victim knew, like a spouse."

"Yes, but we all know Duncan wouldn't kill her." said Izzy. "I mean, maybe he might have when they first broke up, but not now."

"Wow, Iz, that was great." said Justin sarcastically. Izzy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Look, it doesn't matter what Duncan would and would not do. He didn't kill her." said Trent, staring around the room.

"Oh, you know that for sure, do you?" Justin asked. "Cuz it seems to me like he would certainly be capable of something like murder."

"I won't deny that, but I do know for sure it wasn't him." Trent replied. "A tape recorder was found on Courtney's body during the autopsy and I was in the room when it was played back for the cops. You can clearly hear Duncan entering the house after the shots were fired."

"Okay, so it wasn't Duncan." said Justin. "Then who was it?" He looked around the room.

Ezekiel caught Justin's drift and laughed. "You think it was one of us, don't you Justin?" Ezekiel asked.

The others looked from Ezekiel to Justin, who sighed. "Maybe I do." Justin muttered.

"And why the fuck would you think that?" Geoff asked, eying Justin.

"Because it makes the most sense." said Justin. "We all knew her, we all had access to her room, so any one of us could have planted that note. And, we have all wanted to kill her at some point."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean any of us would actually have gone through with it." said Geoff. "I mean, sure there were times when I wanted to wring Courtney's neck, but I've had those moments with all of you, even Bridgette. But I never seriously considered following through with those thoughts and I refuse to believe any of you are any different."

"Geoff's got a point." said Chris. "I mean, if you all knew the number of times I've wanted to kill you all, you'd be justified in killing me, just to save your own asses. But I wouldn't actually do any of it, because the guilt would kill me."

"We're also forgetting the fact that the note was signed by someone named H." said Beth.

"H obviously stands for something else." said Justin. "Which narrows it down to Harold or Heather." He looked at both of them, suspicion in his eyes.

"She wasn't killed by anyone in this family." said Duncan, as he entered the room.

"Duncan, where have you been mate?" Ezekiel asked.

Duncan didn't answer and continued to stare at Justin, as if daring him to defy his words.

"How do you know it wasn't one of us?" Eva asked. "Justin's idea does make sense."

Duncan stared at Eva before answering. "Because I trust all of you and so did Courtney, that's how I know. I refuse to believe that any of you would betray my trust like this and I know that none of you would betray Courtney's. So we're gonna stop this pointing fingers at each other and find out who actually killed my wife."

The others stared at him and nodded in agreement. "Do you have any ideas?" Justin asked, looking at Duncan.

"No, unfortunately." Duncan muttered. "But somebody did it and I will not rest until I find out who it was."


	14. Saying Goodbye

Two days later the campers laid Courtney to rest. It was, quite possibly, the most tragic event any of them had ever experienced. Somehow, seeing Courtney's body lying cold and silent in a casket made the whole thing seem more real. Bridgette could not bare to look at the body of her friend. She and Courtney had been extremely close, almost closer than they each were with Duncan and Geoff. They had even been the matrons of honor at each other's weddings. Seeing Courtney like this made Bridgette feel sick, tearing a hole of sorrow in the very center of her soul.

Bridgette was not the only one who was having trouble with Courtney's death. Heather seemed to be particularly disturbed by Courtney's passing. The two had never been particularly close, but they had always been there for each other. Katie and Sadie, who had been Courtney's personal assistants while she was courting Duncan, were also greatly saddened by her passing. Trent, who still had feelings for her, and Gwen, who considered Courtney one of her closest friends were also in a great amount of pain. And then there was Duncan who more than anyone else, felt the pain of Courtney's death. He stood at the very front of the group, staring at Courtney's face with a look of utter sorrow.

As the pastor finished saying his words, the campers stood, each of them placing a rose on Courtney's casket. Bridgette moved forward to speak and the others paused to listen. Bridgette stared at Courtney for a moment before beginning.

"Courtney." she said, her voice wavering. "You were always my closest friend. Whenever I needed someone to talk to, you were there. Whenever I needed a girlfriend to just hang out with, you were there. And whenever I needed advice, you were there. But you're not here anymore, and I don't know how I'm going to go on. I miss you so much, we all do and-" She stopped and turned away, Geoff wrapping his arms around her, as she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.

Duncan stepped forward, placing his rose on Courtney's chest. He too, stared at her a moment before speaking. "I don't know how to say this Court, but you changed my life. You made me a better person, and for that I am forever grateful. I know we had our problems, but somehow we always found our way back to one another. I see now that we were always meant to be together, and I am truly sorry I didn't see it sooner. I know you are in a better place now, and I want you to know that I will always love you, no matter what happens. Goodbye my love, may your next life be better than your first." He leaned in and kissed Courtney on the cheek and then closed the lid of the casket, hiding her face for the last time.

Later that day the campers once again sat in silence in the breakfast room. Chef was not there, but no one seemed to notice. After a few minutes of nothing, Chef entered, carrying a bottle of Courtney's favorite wine and a set of glasses.

"Uh, Chef, what are you doing?" Katie asked, with a confused look on her face.

"We're gonna do this right." Chef muttered, as he placed the bottle and glasses on the table.

"Do what right?" Sadie asked, her voice just a puzzled as Katie's.

"We're gonna say goodbye the right way." Chef growled. "Courtney deserves more than just a fancy funeral." He looked at Duncan as he finished. Duncan nodded and rose to his feet, taking a glass and the bottle.

He poured himself a glass and passed the bottle to Trent, who did the same. Within minutes all of them had a glass of wine and Chef stood, raising his glass.

"Courtney was a woman who defined power." Chef began. "She was a true leader and a true friend, but more than that she was the foundation of this family. The world will be a darker and less friendly place without her, but we will never forget her. We will never let her memory fade or her legacy die."

Chris stood as well and threw in his two cents. "When I first met all of you, I was convinced that I would never see you as more than simple minded teenage reality show contestants. Courtney was the first to convince me otherwise. It was her who first showed me that people are more than just dollar signs and I will always be grateful for that."

Finally Abigail stood and spoke. "I honestly don't know what to say about Courtney, because there are so many things that can be said. But I will say this, Courtney exemplified everything a good person should be. She was honest, loyal, trustworthy, kind, caring, and extremely loving, especially when it came to Duncan. I am proud to say that I knew her and I know she's in a better place." She was silent for a moment before continuing. "To Courtney, may her life and her legacy teach us what it means to be human."

"To Courtney." the others echoed. Duncan sat and smiled at his family and as they celebrated Courtney's life, he somehow knew everything was going to be okay.

**A/N: Like any of you actually believe that last line. It sounds real cheesy, but I wanted to end this chapter on a "happy" note before delving into the dark, depressing bullshit that is to come. By the end of this everything will be anything but okay.**


	15. Where Do We Go From Here?

In the days that followed Courtney's funeral Duncan found it increasingly more difficult to believe his observations from that night. Far from being okay, his life seemed to have become a horrible nightmare since losing Courtney. Everywhere he looked he saw her, haunting him from the shadows. He could not escape the memories of their life together and the more he thought about her, the more depressed he became. Duncan had no idea how to deal with these feelings, he had never felt them before and was lost as to what he should do. He knew that the others, especially Bridgette and Gwen, were there for him, but for some reason he could not bring himself to go to them for help. He didn't understand why though, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that every time he was around them, he missed Courtney even more.

For their part, the rest of the campers had decided to give Duncan his space, none of them wanting to intrude on his personal pain. It was extremely difficult for them to watch him suffer, but it was his pain struggle with. Though they had all loved Courtney, none of them could know what Duncan was feeling. Despite this, several of them, Gwen and Trent in particular, kept a close eye on Duncan, in case his pain drove him to do something stupid.

Four days after the funeral, Duncan sat alone in his room, staring blankly at the wall. An open bottle of Jack Danial's sat on the floor next to him along with a cracked glass he had been drinking from, which was now empty. The butts of smoked cigarettes littered the floor around him and an unopened pack lay next to the bottle. On the bed lay a revolver and a box of bullets, a half finished suicide note tucked underneath it. Duncan shifted his position, taking a drag off his current cigarette as he did so. He glanced at the door and crushed the cigarette into the floor. With one final glance at the door, Duncan took a swig of the Jack and reached for the gun.

He placed the barrel against his right temple and sighed. "Courtney baby, I'm coming to meet you." he muttered. As his finger began to squeeze the trigger, there was a sudden knock at the door. Duncan jerked the gun away from his head and stared at the door.

"Duncan, are you in there?" he heard Gwen's voice ask.

"Go away." Duncan growled. "I don't want to talk to you."

For a moment there was silence outside the room and then Gwen spoke again. "Come on Duncan, let me in. You can't spend the rest of your life alone."

"Damn it Gwen, go away!" Duncan shouted, hurling the glass at the door. It shattered on contact, sending shards of glass flying across the room.

There was a scream of surprise from outside the room and then the door burst open. Standing in the doorway were the figures of four people, but Duncan could not make exactly who. The largest of the four made his way into the room, glass crunching beneath his feet, and roughly pulled Duncan up off the floor. "Alright Duncan, that's enough sulking." Chef's gruff voice said.

Chef dumped Duncan on the bed and took the gun from his hand, casting a dark look at the other three as he did. "Is that a gun?" Duncan heard Trent's voice ask. Chef nodded and Duncan heard a gasp of shock from the fourth person.

"What the hell is he doing with a gun?" Trent asked.

"Trying to kill himself, by the looks of it." Chef muttered. "Here's the damn note." He held up the suicide note and Trent groaned.

Gwen's face appeared in Duncan's field of vision, followed by Bridgette's. "Duncan, you weren't actually planning on killing yourself, were you?" Gwen asked.

"I was, until you assholes interrupted." Duncan muttered, not looking at her or Bridgette.

"Oh, Duncan why would you want to do such a thing?" Bridgette asked.

"My life, my choice." Duncan muttered again, still not looking at them.

"Yeah, that may be so, but that doesn't give you the right to kill yourself." Chef growled. "Do you really think that's what Courtney would want you to do?"

"Fuck you." said Duncan, glaring at Chef. "You have no idea how I feel right now, and you have no right to tell me what to do."

"It doesn't matter what I have the right to do." Chef growled. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself, no matter how sad you are. We all miss Courtney, but we can't let her death destroy us. We have to press on and bring her justice."

"Yeah, and how are we supposed to do that?" Duncan slurred. "You tell me, how the fuck are we supposed to find justice for my wife when we don't even know who killed her."

"So that means we should just give up?" Gwen asked. "You're not even going to try to find Courtney's killer? Cuz that's not the Duncan Reynolds I know. The Duncan I know, that we know, would be out there doing everything in his power to bring his wife justice."

Duncan stared at Gwen a moment before breaking down into tears. "Don't you think I want to get justice for her?" he choked after a moment. "I want that more than anything, but I don't know where to start. How am I supposed to do it without any kind clues. The fucking cops aren't gonna help and I can't do this alone Gwen, I can't live without her."

Gwen stared at Duncan, tears sparkling in her eyes. But it was Trent who spoke next. "But Duncan, you're not alone." he said. "You don't have to search for clues by yourself. We're all here to help you. We're a family and we will never abandon you."

Duncan looked at Trent, a new sense of respect for his best friend rising in his chest. "You're right Trent." he muttered. "I'm being an idiot and I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for." said Chef. "Now come on, get yourself cleaned up and we'll go talk with the others, come up with a plan."

Twenty minutes, after Duncan had showered and put on clean clothes, the five of them made their way down to the breakfast room, where the rest of the group was waiting. They applauded as Duncan entered, glad to have their leader back in working order. Duncan smiled at them and, once everyone was seated, spoke.

"Alright." he said. "As you may have all noticed, I've been a little out of it the last few days because of, well, you know. But I am happy to say that I am done sulking. It's time for me, no, for us to find out who took Courtney from us. I intend to do everything in my power to find out who it was that killed her and bring that person to justice. And I want all of you to help me."

"We got your back Duncan, one hundred percent." said Geoff.

"Damn right we do." said Eva. "And may the poor bastard who was stupid enough to take one of us wish they had never messed with our family."

Duncan smiled and nodded. He had known all along that he wouldn't have to do this alone, he had simply forgotten for a moment just how strong his family was.

"So, where do we go from here?" Cody asked.

"Well first we-Lindsey are you okay?" Duncan asked, changing course in mid sentence.

Lindsey was leaning against the table, doubled over in pain. She looked up at the others. "I think it's time." she groaned.

Tyler's eyes widened. "The baby." he breathed. "It's coming now?" Lindsey nodded.

"Oh shit, let's get down to the hospital." said Duncan, and with that, he and Tyler carried Lindsey out to a car, the others right behind them. It was not exactly how Duncan had wanted his planning to go, but it didn't matter. A new life was about to join the family.

**A/N: Yeah, that's right, Lindsey and Tyler are gonna be parents. I know it's been awhile since I mentioned Lindsey's pregnancy, but it's time, so there's a happy note. And in case you're wondering, I did toy with the idea of killing Duncan off, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, not so soon after giving Courtney the axe.**


	16. A New Life

A half hour later, Lindsey was in the midst of the most terrible pain she had ever felt. For months she had been preparing for this day, but she had never imagined that bringing a child into the world would hurt this much. All of the books she had read, all of the films she had watched, none of them had prepared her for this. But Lindsey knew she had no choice, her child was coming and she would just have to grit her teeth and endure the pain. At least she had Tyler and Beth with her to help her through this, though there was not really much either of them could do.

Lindsey grunted, bracing herself against the pain. She glanced over at Tyler, who smiled at her. "You're doing great Linds." he whispered. "Just a little bit longer and we'll be able to see our child."

Lindsey nodded and looked back at the doctor. The doctor gave her an encouraging smile and then spoke. "Alright Lindsey, it looks like we're almost there. I need you to give me one more big push and we should have it."

Lindsey nodded again and pushed with all her might, Tyler squeezing her hand as she did. After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Lindsey heard the crying of her child and relaxed. Tyler looked at her and smiled again. "You did it honey." he said, tears of joy in his eyes.

"Well done Lindsey." the doctor said, as he handed her her child. "You have a beautiful, healthy daughter." Lindsey held her daughter and beamed, Tyler wrapping his arms around her. For a moment they simply stared at her, absorbing the beauty of their creation. Lindsey kissed her daughter on the forehead and then looked over at Beth who was beaming, her happiness for her best friend evident in her eyes.

"I'll go tell the others." she whispered. "Let us know when you're ready to see us."

Tyler nodded and Beth left the room. She walked down the hall to the waiting room, where the others were all seated. They all looked up as Beth entered, desperate for news.

"Well how'd it go?" Heather asked, eying Beth.

"Perfectly." Beth replied. "Tyler and Lindsey are now the proud parents of a beautiful daughter." She smiled and made her way over to Cody.

"Ha, I knew it." Duncan shouted, slugging Trent in the shoulder. "I knew they'd have a girl. Fork over the cash dude."

Trent rolled his eyes and handed Duncan a twenty. "Well done Duncan." he muttered. "Maybe now you can go to Vegas and make some money. I wonder what the stakes are on guessing the gender of children?"

"Get bent." Duncan muttered, glaring at Trent.

"Come on boys, no fighting." said Gwen. "This is a happy time, lets not ruin it with your stupidity." She grinned at them and they grinned back.

Meanwhile, back in her room Lindsey was curled up with Tyler and their daughter. They did not have a name chosen for her yet, but Lindsey had a few ideas. "So, what should we name her?" Tyler asked.

"I was thinking of Allison." said Lindsey. "I know it's my middle name, but I've always liked it." She shrugged, not sure how to explain better.

"If you like it, then I like it." Tyler said, before kissing Lindsey on the cheek. "What about a middle name?"

"How about Courtney?" Lindsey suggested, watching Tyler closely.

"Allison Courtney Johnson." Tyler said the full name, testing to see how it flowed. "Yeah, that sounds good." he said. "Duncan will like it at any rate."

Lindsey smiled. She knew Duncan would love the name, but that was not the reason she had chosen it. Although it had not seemed like to the others, especially when they were competing on TDA, she and Courtney had been quite close. Courtney had helped Lindsey overcome her ditzyness and Lindsey had always been thankful for that. When it came right down to it, giving Courtney's name to her daughter was the best way Lindsey could think of to thank Courtney for all she had done.

A short time later, Lindsey and Tyler made their way down to the waiting room. The others stood and clapped as they entered, all of them beaming.

"Congratulations mate." Ezekiel said, winking at Tyler.

"Yeah, congratulations guys." Bridgette echoed, the others following suit.

Lindsey and Tyler beamed at their friends, glad that they were all able to be there for the birth of their daughter. Once everyone had calmed down Lindsey revealed Allison. Tyler stood behind her and proudly spoke. "Everyone, I'd like you all to welcome Allison Courtney Johnson to our family. I know you will all be great aunts and uncles."

The others applauded once again and Duncan smiled at Lindsey. In his eyes, she read his joy. Tyler had been right, Duncan did like the name.

**A/N: Well, there you go. Tyler and Lindsey are parents. I know it's kind of a short chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else to write for this one so, there you go, I guess. Anyway, there is a reason why I made Lindsey the first to become a mother, but it'll be awhile until I explain it, so you'll have to come back if you wanna find out.**


	17. Izzy's Struggle

Lindsey remained in the hospital for the next two days before being released. She and Tyler returned to the hotel to find surprise party waiting for them. They beamed at their friends, taken aback by this outpouring of love. The celebration last well into the night, though Lindsey did not stay for the whole thing as Allison needed feeding and Lindsey took her up for bed. The others continued to celebrate, but soon brought the party to an end.

Despite the happiness that had been injected back into the group, the dark cloud that seemed to have permanently attached itself to them was still hovering overhead. Duncan and Izzy, in particular, were feeling the effects of the darkness. Though he had promised the others he was done mourning for Courtney, Duncan found it hard to keep to that promise. Even with the joy of a new life joining his family, Duncan could still not fully escape the pain.

Izzy had a different matter to worry about, the looming spinal surgery that she hoped would give her back the use of her legs. While she had been excited by the prospect when she had first been told, she was now starting to have second thoughts. She was terrified something would go wrong with the surgery and she would not make it. Her fears were justified, the last time she had undergone surgery, she had donated some of her brain tissue to Harold and they had both ended up dead. While they had come back from that one, this time she would not, and Izzy could not bear the thought of what her death would mean to Owen and the others, especially after the loss of Courtney.

Three days after Allison's birth, Izzy pulled Owen aside to talk to him about the surgery, which was less than a week away. "Owen, we need to talk." Izzy said, looking at him seriously.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" Owen asked.

"Well, you know, my spinal surgery is in less than a week and I'm starting to have second thoughts about going through with it." Izzy replied.

"Iz, it's your decision." Owen said, trying to sound objective. "I can't tell you what to do. If you want to have a chance at walking again, then do the surgery, but if you're content now, then don't. I will love you either way."

Izzy gave him a disgruntled look. This was not the kind of help she was looking for, especially not from her husband. She sighed and wheeled her chair out of the room, without another word. A few hours later, she found D.J. and Abigail sitting in the hotel lounge. Hoping they would be more helpful than Owen, she wheeled herself over to them.

D.J. glanced over as she approached. "Hey Izzy." he said. "What's up?"

Izzy didn't answer. "Izzy, is something wrong?" Abigail asked.

"No everything is okay." Izzy lied. She hesitated a moment and then continued. "No, that's a lie, everything is not okay."

"What's bothering you?" D.J. asked. "Maybe we can help."

"It's my spinal surgery." Izzy muttered. "I was all excited about it, but now I'm not sure if I want to go through with it."

"Well, it seems to me like that's something you need to discuss with Owen." said Abigail.

"I already did." said Izzy, with an unhappy look.

"And what did he say?" Abigail asked, looking at Izzy intently.

"He said I had to make that decision for myself." Izzy grumbled, her eyes growing dark.

"And you disagree with him?" asked D.J. "Because he is kinda right Izzy. None of us can make that decision for you, it's your body."

"But what if I don't know decision to make?" Izzy asked. "I mean, on the one hand I really want to do the surgery cause it could help me walk again. But on the other, I'm not convinced that I actually need it. Being paralyzed isn't so bad. Plus, I'm terrified something will go wrong and I'll end up dead, and I can't do that to Owen, not now, not again."

"Izzy, all I can tell you is look inside of yourself, you'll find the answer you seek." said Abigail. "And you can't look at this in a negative manner, sometimes we have to take risks to get what we want and I think this is one of those times."

"Thanks." said Izzy as she wheeled away, back towards the elevators. Abigail nodded and Izzy left. They were right, of course, it was no one's decision but her own. But what decision to make, what course of action should she take? Izzy still had no idea, but she needed to make a decision soon, she was running out of time.

Four days later, Izzy lay on a hospital bed, awaiting surgery. She had decided that she would take the risk, she would go through with the surgery. As she lay there, feeling the effects of the anesthesia, Izzy prayed she was doing the right thing, knowing that if she wasn't it would be too late do anything about it.

For three hours, she lay in surgery, totally unaware of the surgeon digging around in her body. The donor tissue had come from a young car crash victim and the doctor was confident that it would work. Owen sat out in the waiting room, Noah and Eva keeping him company. Finally the doctor came out and told them the news.

"The surgery was a complete success." the doctor said. "Now all have to do is wait, with any luck, she'll be walking again someday."

**A/N: Okay, so there's some more happy news. First Lindsey and Tyler become parents and then Izzy has a successful surgery. I decided to put in these more upbeat chapters to break up the monotony of killing and depression, so you're welcome, I guess. If you prefer the darker chapters, I'll be getting back to that soon enough, don't worry.**


	18. Regaining Feeling

Izzy awoke to find herself lying flat on her back, the sound of muffled voices buzzing in her ears. She glanced at the ceiling, her mind racing. Was the surgery really over that quickly? How had it gone? Was she going to be able to learn how to walk again, or was she still paralyzed? Unfortunately for Izzy, there was no one in the room to answer her questions. The voices she was hearing were coming from outside the room. So, without anything to do or anyone to talk to, Izzy contented herself with staring at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the tiles with her eyes.

A short time later, the door swung open and Owen walked in, followed by Noah, Eva, and the doctor. Owen looked at her and smiled, Izzy returning the gesture. Behind Owen, Izzy could see Noah grinning and Eva looking happy as well.

"Well, it's nice to see you're awake, Ms. Dockins." the doctor said, a smile on his face too. "I am pleased to say that the surgery was successful. You are still a long way from walking again, but at least now you're on the right path."

Izzy smiled to show her appreciation, as she could not nod at the moment. "Thank you." she whispered.

"It was my pleasure." the doctor replied. "Although I was told you considered not going through with the surgery." He smiled again and Izzy cast a dark look at Owen.

"Well, I'll get going, give you all some time alone." said the doctor. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on you." He gave one last smile and left the room.

"I think we'll be going too." said Noah. "We'll let the others know how it went and then we'll come back."

Owen nodded and Noah and Eva left. Owen turned back to Izzy, beaming. "Well, that's over with." he said. "How do you feel?"

"Alright, considering I still can't move below the waist." said Izzy.

"Yeah, but now you have a chance to get that back." said Owen, with a grin.

"Yeah." said Izzy. "How long was I out?" she asked, after a brief pause.

"Well the surgery took three hours." said Owen. "You were awake briefly afterwards, but they gave you some pain meds and those knocked you right out. It's been about six hours or so."

"Six hours?" Izzy asked. Owen nodded. "Wow, it feels like it's only been one, two at the most." Izzy continued.

"Well, they did give you some pretty powerful drugs." said Owen, shrugging.

"I guess so." said Izzy. "Man I hate this, lying here on my back, not knowing if the surgery actually did any good."

"You just have to be patient." said Owen. "We'll find out soon enough if it helped."

Two hours later, Noah and Eva returned, bringing the others with them. Izzy smiled as her friends entered, glad to see them after undergoing such a risky procedure.

"Hey Izzy, regained any feeling yet?" Duncan asked.

Gwen gave him a dark look. "For shit's sake Duncan, she only just had the surgery." Gwen muttered. "She's not going to show improvement that quickly. Although, given that it is Izzy, I wouldn't have been surprised if she had."

Duncan glared at her and Izzy smiled. "Thanks Gwen." she said, truly appreciating Gwen's words. It was nice to know someone besides Owen had confidence in her abilities.

"So, do the doctors have any idea how long it will be before you do start regaining feeling?" Katie asked.

"No." Izzy replied. "It could be a week from now, a month, a year, it could even happen tomorrow. Or it may never happen."

"It'll happen." said Harold, complete confidence in his voice. "If anyone can come back from this, it's you." He looked at Izzy and grinned.

Izzy smiled again, chuckling at Harold's total confidence. Though she hoped he was right, her own prospects were a bit more realistic. She knew that there was a chance that even with the surgery, she may never walk again, but by now she was okay with that. She knew that her life would go on no matter what and even if she regained feeling and mobility, it would probably only be partial. Still, she appreciated the support of her friends.

A week later, Izzy was still in the hospital and had yet to show any signs of improvement. Though she had come to terms with the fact that this may not have worked, she was growing frustrated by the lack of progress. Even Owen's undying support was failing to raise her spirits. But, Izzy would not give up hope. She was determined not to let this beat her, not after she had made it this far.

Finally a week and a half after the surgery there were signs of progress. The doctor was testing Izzy, as he did every day, by poking her with a needle along the length of both of her legs. As he reached the sole of her left foot, Izzy yelped.

"Did you just feel that?" the doctor asked, looking at Izzy.

Izzy nodded. "Well that's a good sign." the doctor said. "It means the surgery is working."

Over the next couple of days Izzy not only regained feeling in the sole of left foot, but the sole of her right and all ten toes as well. She still had no movement, but she was encouraged by the progress. If she could begin regaining feeling this quickly, maybe she would be able to walk again after all.

Izzy's progress served to inspire Duncan as well. With two positives since Courtney's death, Duncan had finally begun to regain the feeling in his soul. He finally felt ready to make good on his promise to avenge Courtney's murder. No longer would he be shackled by his own pain and feelings of guilt. The time had come to find out the truth.

**A/N: And all I'm gonna say is, the truth will shock you! Or maybe it won't. Either way, it's gonna be good.**


	19. Searching for the Truth pt1

Though Duncan had finally begun his search for the truth, he had one problem, the lack of evidence that could point to a suspect. There had been little evidence left behind at the scene, and most of that was locked up at the local jail. Still, Duncan had to at least try to find the truth. He knew that if he didn't, he would never fully be able to accept the fact that Courtney was gone. He decided to start with the house where she was murdered, there had to be some sort of clue there that would lead him to her killer.

Duncan decided it would be unwise to begin his search alone, so he asked Trent to come with him. Trent agreed, if only because he wanted to know what had happened just as badly as Duncan did. The two of them arrived at the house to find the caution tape had been removed and the door had been locked. Fortunately, Duncan was good at picking locks and after a couple of minutes they had broken into the house.

"Ugh, it smells like shit in here." said Trent, wrinkling his nose.

"Yeah, this house has been abandoned for awhile." said Duncan, glancing around the room. His eyes fell on the blood stains on the floor, which the cops had not bothered cleaning up after they had removed Courtney's body. Trent followed Duncan's gaze and cursed when he saw the stains.

Duncan moved deeper into the house and began searching for clues. Trent stayed in the living room, searching around there. After a few minutes Duncan returned, an unhappy look on his face. "Find anything?" Trent asked.

"No, there's nothing here." Duncan muttered, as he knelt down to examine the blood stains.

"It begs the question though." said Trent. "If there's nothing special about this house, why was she brought here before she was killed? What was it about this specific location that made it absolutely necessary for her to die here?"

"I have no idea." Duncan muttered. "Whatever the reason, we're not gonna find the answers here. Let's go."

They headed back to the hotel and were met by Gwen and Bridgette. "Did you find anything?" Bridgette asked, her voice hopeful.

"No, there wasn't anything there that was worth a shit." said Duncan.

"What does that mean then?" Gwen asked, looking at Duncan.

"It means we're not fucking looking hard enough or we're looking in the wrong fucking place." Duncan replied.

"So, what now?" Trent asked, glancing at Duncan.

"Well there's still the note she received and the one she left." said Duncan.

"But, we've already looked at the note she received, there were no clues in it." said Gwen.

"It's still worth another look." said Trent. "At this point, anything that has a chance of helping us figure this mystery out is worth looking at."

The other three nodded and they headed up stairs. They arrived at Duncan's room and he lead them in, heading for the nightstand. He opened the top drawer and pulled out both notes. The note Courtney had received was familiar to all of them, but only Duncan had seen the note she had left before she had gone to the house. Duncan spread Courtney's letter out so they could all read it.

_Duncan, I know you don't want me to go to that address but I can't let you control me. I am going to find out who this H person is and what they want with me. I think this could be the answer to Gwen's nightmares and I have to know. If I don't return, know that I love you, I always have and I always will. I'm sorry I'm going behind your back like this, but I have to know. Love, Courtney._

The four of them sat in silence for a moment, simply staring at the letter. Finally Trent broke the silence. "What does she mean she thought this could be the answer to Gwen's nightmares?" he asked, looking at the others.

"It means she knew it was a trap." said Duncan. "I think she knew who this H person is and she wanted to see if she was correct. She must have thought that by exposing him or her, she would be able to keep herself and Gwen safe."

"But that doesn't make sense." said Bridgette. "We had no idea if Gwen's visions were going to come true, why would Courtney have risked her life if she didn't have all the facts?"

"Because she was scared." said Gwen. "She received that note just days after I saw her die. If she believed my visions would come true, then she would have done everything in her power to ensure they didn't. It makes perfect sense for her to have done what she did."

"I agree." said Duncan. "Courtney was never one for sitting around waiting for things to happen. She wanted to tackle problems before they became problems, it's one of the things that attracted me to her."

"So, we know why she went to the house." said Trent. "Now all we need to figure out is, who was in there with her and why did they kill her?"

"For those answers I think we're gonna have to go talk to detectives Shinski and Jackson again." said Duncan, as Trent scowled, disliking the prospect.

**A/N: We're getting closer to the truth, but the mystery is far from unraveled. Who killed Courtney and why, and are the others in danger? Stay tuned to find out!**


	20. Searching for the Truth pt2

The next day, Duncan and Trent headed down to the police station, intent on getting some answers. They arrived to find the place in an uproar. "What the fuck?" Duncan muttered, as they entered the station. "Did they hire retarded monkeys to run this place since last time?" Trent shrugged and walked up to the front desk, where a very harassed looking female officer was seated.

"Uh, excuse me officer?" Duncan asked. "We're here to speak with detectives Shinski and Jackson. Are they in?"

The policewoman looked at him and then turned and yelled, "Shinski! Jackson! You've got some guys here who want to talk to you." She turned back to Duncan and Trent. "You can have a seat, they'll be out in a few."

Duncan and Trent obeyed, taking a seat near the desk. After a couple of minutes Duncan leaned over to the policewoman at the desk, his curiosity getting the better of him. "So, what's going on here?" he asked.

"Well first we had a pipe burst, then one of our officers was killed in a shootout, and then, just to cap it all off, some jackass tried to break in here last night." she replied, her eyes dark.

"Shit." said Duncan. "And I thought the last few days of my life were bad."

At that moment detectives Shinski and Jackson emerged from the back of the station. The two of them froze when they saw Duncan and Trent, surprised to see them.

"And what do you two want." Shinski asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." Trent replied, with a smile.

"Alright, but keep it brief." said Shinski. "We don't have all day."

Duncan nodded and walked towards the exit. Trent glanced at the detectives, who both shrugged and followed Duncan, Trent bringing up the rear.

Once they were outside, Shinski and Jackson turned to face Duncan and Trent. "Alright, so what did you want to talk about?" Jackson asked.

"We were wondering if we could see the evidence that was collected at the scene of my wife's murder." Duncan asked, keeping his voice level.

"What do you need to see that for?" Shinski asked, suspicious again.

"Well, we want to figure out who killed her and the gun is the best way to do it." said Duncan, with a smile.

"If you want dust for prints, it's already been done." said Jackson.

"And, what did you find?" Trent asked. "Were there any prints?"

"Yeah, his." Jackson said, pointing at Duncan. Jackson smiled and Shinski laughed.

"Look, you two already know I didn't do it." Duncan growled. "Now there were other prints on that gun and you're gonna tell me who the fuck they belonged to."

"Easy there boy." said Shinski. "Don't give us a reason to arrest your ass."

"But, you aren't wrong." said Jackson. "There were other prints on the gun, but they didn't match anyone in the system. So, either your killer is a first time offender or he's just really good at covering his tracks."

"Shit." said Duncan. "Well that's all, thanks for your time." He and Trent turned to leave, but Jackson stopped them.

"You're welcome." he said, looking at them. After a short pause, he continued. "Listen, don't give up Duncan. Sometimes it takes awhile for the answers to appear, but they always do. You can find justice for your wife and if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call."

Duncan nodded and he and Trent left, heading back to the hotel. They had not gained as much information as they had been hoping for, but they at least knew Courtney's killer was most likely a first time offender. Either that, or a really good assassin, which was not a pleasant thought, given their previous experience with assassins. However, despite his frustration, Duncan felt a sense of accomplishment. He felt that he was one step closer to unraveling the mystery and that with a few more clues he could end this once and for all.

Later that night, Duncan was awoken by a knock at his door. Grumbling, he climbed out of bed and made his way over to the door. He flung it open to find Trent standing in the hallway.

"Trent? What the fuck dude, it's one in the fucking morning." Duncan grumbled. "What the hell do you want?"

"I just had a thought." said Trent, pushing past Duncan and entering the room. "It's about this H person, what if Justin is right? What if it is Harold or Heather?"

"Dude, no." said Duncan. "I told you already, it wasn't them. I don't think any of the members of this family would do something like that."

"How can you be so sure though?" Trent asked. "I mean, you and Harold have never really gotten along and he already used Courtney to get back at you once. And Heather, well...she's never been the most trustworthy individual and she has always despised both Courtney and Gwen."

"Trent, let me explain something to you." said Duncan. "Something you need to understand, so you'll stop thinking like an idiot. First of all, me and Harold are tight now and what he did to Courtney with the whole false elimination thing has already been taken care of. And as far as Heather goes, she may be a bitch, but she's not a psycho. I don't care what fucking problems I've had with either of them in the past, I don't think it was them and I don't want to discuss it again."

"Alright dude, you don't have to go off on me it was just a thought." said Trent. There was a pause and then Trent continued. "So if you don't think it was them, who do you think it was?"

"I don't know, that's what I've been trying to figure out the last two days." Duncan muttered. "But I can tell you this much, one way or another I think we're about to find out."

**A/N: Actually their not as close to finding out the truth as they think they are, but I couldn't think of a better way to finish the chapter so there you go.**


	21. The Truth Revealed

**Three Weeks Ago (Six hours after Gwen's second dream):**

Heather sat outside the hotel, waiting for Gwen to meet her. For some reason Heather was very interested in Gwen's recent visions, but she was not sure why. True, the visions concerned Courtney's death and Courtney was certainly friends with Heather, but Heather could not figure out why Gwen's visions bothered her so much. Wasn't it Duncan's job to be worried about the safety of his wife? Heather knew that it was and Duncan was certainly concerned about the situation, but for some reason she felt an uneasiness as well and she was determined to figure out why.

Heather waited for several more minutes and was just about to head back in when Gwen appeared, limping towards her with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Finally." Heather said. "What the hell took you so long?"

"I was catching up on my sleep." Gwen snapped. "You know, cuz I kinda didn't sleep so well last night."

Heather shrugged and rolled her eyes. She did not want to hear Gwen's reasons for being late, even though she knew they were justified. She looked at Gwen with a piercing gaze, as though trying to read her mind.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Gwen asked, glaring back at Heather.

"I wanted to ask you about your visions." Heather said, smiling.

"Oh, so now you think they're real visions." Gwen snapped. "What made you change your mind?" She looked at Heather intently.

"Nothing." Heather lied. "I always thought they were real visions. I was only being skeptical to throw off the others." She smiled again, but Gwen wasn't buying her charade.

"Uh huh, sure." said Gwen. "I've had to much experience with your treachery Heather to just believe you like that. Still, if you really want to know something I'll give it to you."

"Are you certain these visions will come true?" Heather asked, abruptly.

"I have no idea." Gwen replied. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"I just want to know if there's a way to protect Courtney." said Heather, with yet another innocent smile.

Gwen was still not convinced Heather was being truthful, but she answered anyway. "I don't know if they'll come true, but I do know this, only one of them can. Abigail seems pretty convinced one of them will so, who knows. Maybe one will and maybe one won't, until it happens we can only guess."

Heather nodded. "That's all I wanted to know." she said. Gwen nodded and headed back inside. Heather watched her go, a smile on her face.

**The Next Day:**

The next day Courtney discovered a note, scribbled in a hand she did not recognize. After reading the note herself she went to Duncan to get his take, but he was less then helpful making her promise she wouldn't go and check out the address. As Courtney and Duncan made their way from the breakfast room, Geoff and Trent pulled Duncan aside.

"What was all that about?" Geoff demanded, staring at Duncan.

Duncan was silent for a moment, before looking at the other two. "I take it you two heard that little fight?" he asked.

"I think the whole fucking hotel heard that." muttered Trent.

"Shut up Trent." Duncan snapped.

"So, what were you two arguing about?" Geoff asked.

Duncan sighed. "Courtney found a note from some unknown person this morning telling her to come to some address I've never heard of before." he explained.

"So, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing." said Geoff, looking at Duncan.

"Yeah, but here's the sinker." said Duncan. "She wants to go check it out, without any idea if it's a trap or not."

"Oh come on dude." said Trent. "The wars are over, you've got to stop thinking like a soldier. Why would it be a trap, who would want to do that? No one I can think of, that's who. Besides, Courtney's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

"Gee Trent, thanks for that." Duncan muttered. "That's exactly the kind of support I was looking for you asshat. I know the motherfucking wars are over and I know Courtney can take care of herself, I just don't want her doing something stupid. I don't want her acting like...like..." He pitched around, trying to come up with an appropriate analogy.

"Like you." Geoff muttered, finishing Duncan's sentence for him. Duncan nodded.

"Exactly." he said. "I don't want her acting like me."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you dude." said Geoff. "I guess all you can do is hope she took your advice and she doesn't go. Otherwise, you might just have to let her go."

**The following day:**

Courtney made her way down to the lobby. She had promised Duncan she would not go to 415 Sheppard Ave., but she could not help herself. Her curiosity was too strong and Courtney had never been one to ignore her curiosity. As she headed for the door a sudden noise made her stop.

"Going somewhere Courtney?" a voice asked, making Courtney jump and turn. Standing a few feet from her, her arms folded across her chest, was Bridgette.

"Oh, Bridgette, you scared me." Courtney breathed. "I thought it was Duncan following me." Bridgette continued to stare, not answering.

"It might as well have been." she said, after a moment of silence. "I know where you're headed Courtney and Duncan's right, it's too dangerous."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "So you're on his side huh?" she asked. "Well, I'm gonna tell you what I told him, I'm going and you can't stop me."

"Come on Courtney, don't be stupid." said Bridgette. "You know Duncan is right. You shouldn't be going to that address and you know it."

"Maybe I do." Courtney replied. "But that's not going to stop me either."

"Courtney, please don't go." Bridgette pleaded. "What if something happens to you? What if you get hurt or worse? It would destroy Duncan if something happened to you, don't do this to him."

"I'm sorry Bridge, but my mind is made up." said Courtney. With that, she turned and walked out of the hotel.

A short time later she arrived at the address, finding it to be a crummy, run down old house. She entered the house, glancing around the room as she did. "Hello, is anyone here?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Hello Courtney." a voice replied. "Would you please close the door?"

Courtney obeyed and looked back at the mysterious individual. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice nervous.

"Oh I suspect your friends will find out soon enough." the voice answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Courtney asked, her voice growing more unsteady.

"Nothing you need to worry about." the voice answered. "But, enough of these games, the time for talk is over." Courtney saw a flash as the mysterious individual drew a gun.

"Wait, what're you-?" Courtney began to ask, before the gun fired. The shot struck her just below her sternum. Courtney gasped in pain and stumbled backwards. Before she could react, three more shots tore through her.

Courtney stood, staring at the mysterious individual, her breath coming in short painful gasps. She could feel her life leaving her, but she was not gone yet.

Her mystery opponent smiled beneath the mask he wore. "Well, I must say, you are a much more formidable foe than I thought you would be." the masked person said. "So, as a reward before you die, I will let you see my identity." With that, the person pulled of the mask.

"You." Courtney gasped. "Why? Why Hea-" Her question was cut short as a fifth and final bullet struck her in the head. Courtney hit the floor and was still.

"Because I can, that's why." Heather replied, as she stared down at Courtney's lifeless body.

**A/N: Okay, so I know I just revealed who Courtney's murderer is, but there's still more to the mystery. The others still don't know it's her and there's other stuff too. I wrote this chapter to give you a better understanding of exactly waht happened in the days before Courtney's death. Unfortunately, revealing Heather as the killer now kinda ruins the surprise for you guys later, but I think this chapter works. If you have a better idea for how I could end this chap, please let me know and I will make the necessary changes. Thanks.**


	22. Still At Large

**Present Day: **

The day after Duncan and Trent's conversation with detectives Shinski and Jackson, Gwen found herself alone in the breakfast room. She was deep in thought and did not notice Heather enter the room. After several minutes of silence, Heather cleared her throat, making Gwen jump. She looked around for the source of the noise and finally noticed Heather.

"Heather!" Gwen exclaimed. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Only a few minutes." Heather replied. They stared at each other for a moment before Heather continued. "We need to talk." she said.

"About what?" Gwen asked, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

"About Duncan and Trent's little investigation." Heather replied.

"What about it?" Gwen asked, her curiosity turning to suspicion.

"Well, I think they should stop." Heather answered. "I mean, okay we all want to know who killed Courtney, but I just think it's too dangerous and I don't want them to get hurt."

"Well, it's their choice." said Gwen. "But you do make a good point. I'll talk to them and see what I can do."

"Thank you Gwen." said Heather, with a smile.

"No problem." said Gwen, as she headed for the exit. "But I can't promise anything."

"That's alright." Heather said, with another smile. "As long as they don't find out it was me." she added, once Gwen was out of earshot.

Gwen headed upstairs to find Duncan and Trent, who were most likely still asleep. She entered her and Trent's room to find him sprawled out across the bed, snoring loudly. Gwen sighed and walked over to the bed, poking Trent in the ribs when she got there. Trent grunted and rolled over, ignoring her. Gwen rolled her eyes, and poked him again, this time getting the reaction she wanted.

"Uh, what?" Trent grunted, as he snapped awake. "What do you want?"

"It's time to get up honey." Gwen said. "I need to talk to you."

Trent sat up and stared at her blearily. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Ten thirty in the morning." Gwen replied. "Now come on, get your ass out of bed."

"Alright, give me a goddamn minute." Trent muttered. "What do you want to talk about anyway?"

"I'll tell you when we have Duncan with us." Gwen replied, without looking at him.

"Alright, what's going on?" Trent asked, looking at Gwen. "What's so important that you need Duncan with you to tell me?"

"I told you, you have to wait until we have Duncan." Gwen replied. "And I don't need him with me, I need to tell him this too."

"Tell me what exactly?" asked Duncan, as he entered the room.

"Duncan!" Gwen exclaimed, as she turned to face him. "How did you get in here?"

"You left the door unlocked." Duncan replied. "Now what is it you need to tell us?"

"Um, well, Heather thinks you two should stop investigating Courtney's murder." Gwen answered, not looking at either of them.

Duncan and Trent both stared at her. "What?" Duncan asked. "Is she fucking nuts?" He paused for a moment and then continued. "Do you agree with her Gwen?"

"I-well, yes I do actually." Gwen replied. "I think you guys should leave the investigating to the police."

"I'm not leaving this in the hands of cops." Duncan snapped. "My wife's killer is still at large and I fully intend to hunt the fucker down myself. Fuck the cops, they're not doing anything anyway. I don't need their help."

"Then why did you go to the station yesterday?" Gwen asked.

"Because they had evidence I needed to examine." Duncan snapped.

"Gwen, why are you taking Heather's side on this?" Trent asked suddenly. "You've never agreed with her on anything before."

"I'm taking her side because I think she's right." Gwen answered, trying to keep her voice calm. "It's dangerous and neither of us want to see you two get hurt."

"So, you and Heather think me and Trent aren't tough enough for this, is that it?" Duncan asked, his eyes flashing.

"No, that's not what I think." Gwen replied, her anger finally taking over. "I just think you should leave this to the professionals."

"If we leave it to the cops, it's gonna be fucking years before we find anything out." Duncan shouted. "I don't want to wait years, I want to know now. Damn it Gwen, why can't you just let us do this. We've been in far more dangerous situations before and survived."

Gwen did not have an immediate answer for that. It was true that they had dealt with much tougher problems and survived, but this time was different. In their previous struggles they had known who the enemy was, this time they had no idea, and that left them vulnerable. Still, Gwen could not see a way to convince them otherwise, she had no choice but to give in.

"Alright, fine." she spat. "Keep investigating. But don't cry to me when something goes wrong and one of you ends up hurt."

Duncan and Trent nodded, and Gwen left the room. As soon as she was gone, Trent turned to Duncan and sighed. "Shit, that was a close one." he said. "I thought we were screwed for sure."

"Yeah." Duncan said. "You know, I'm starting to think there may be something to your Heather is the killer theory. She has been acting kinda weird since Courtney was killed."

"So, what are we going to do about it?" Trent asked, looking at Duncan.

"We're gonna check it out." Duncan replied. "One way or another, by the end of today we'll know if it was Heather."

**A/N: Of course, you already know Heather is the killer, but like I said last chapter the other characters don't and there's still more to the mystery.**


	23. Zeke's Conclusion

Unfortunately Duncan and Trent would not get a chance to investigate Heather further. Over the next two days the campers were kept so busy that there was no way to launch a proper investigation. There were two reasons for the campers frantic whirlwind of activity and they both had to do with returns. Lindsey and Izzy were finally coming home. Lindsey had been released from the hospital once already, but she had gone back a couple days later, complaining of headaches. The doctors, after a battery of tests, ruled that they were simply a side effect of the stress caused by being a new mother. Izzy had been recovering from her spinal surgery, and though she had made some progress, she was still a long way from walking. Regardless, the others were happy to have both of them back and spent the majority of the two days getting everything ready for their return.

This did not stop Duncan and Trent from thinking however and they were not the only ones who were noticing Heather's strange behavior. Ezekiel, of all people, seemed to notice this more than anyone else. But he was unsure how to go about proving his suspicions, without proper proof it would be very difficult to make a solid accusation.

In the days following Izzy and Lindsey's return, Heather began to act even more strangely and Ezekiel grew more and more suspicious with each passing day. Justin had noticed Heather's behavior as well and he finally confronted her about it. Before doing so, however, he asked Ezekiel to monitor the conversation, which Ezekiel agreed to, if only to confirm his own suspicions about Heather.

"Heather, I need to ask you a question." Justin said, one day after lunch.

"About what?" Heather asked, looking at him innocently.

"I want to know if there is anything you're hiding from me." said Justin, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Why would you want to know something like that?" Heather asked, still innocent.

"Well, you've been acting kinda strange lately and I just want to know why." Justin replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Heather snapped. "How have I been acting strange?" She looked at him intently, awaiting his answer.

"Well, you've been sneaking around, disappearing for hours." Justin answered. "And you act like you have something to hide, like you've done something you don't want any of us to know about. Is there anything you've done recently that would warrant such secrecy?"

Heather stared at him unable to speak, her mouth having gone too dry to work properly. Had Justin figured out the truth, did he know she was the one who killed Courtney? No, that was not possible, even Duncan hadn't figured it out yet and she would know when he did. There was no way Justin could have figured out the truth, she had not done anything to give herself away.

"Heather?" Justin asked, his voice bringing her back to reality. "Heather, is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, don't be ridiculous." she snapped. "I'm not hiding anything from you or anyone else." She glared at him before storming off. As soon as she was gone, Ezekiel stepped out from behind the clump of bushes he was hiding in.

"So, what do you think, is she hiding something?" Justin asked, looking at Ezekiel.

"Yes." Ezekiel answered. "Now we just have to figure out what." Justin nodded and they headed off in opposite directions.

The next day Ezekiel woke early, the thoughts spinning in his head making sleep impossible. As he had slept a thought had occurred to him, what if Heather was concealing the fact that she had killed Courtney? It had seemed like an absurd notion when it first occurred to him, after all why would Heather want to kill Courtney? But the more he had thought about it the more Ezekiel had come to the appropriate conclusion. All of the pieces fit, Heather had been unaccounted for the day of the murder, she had seemed a little too shocked by the news, and she had been acting strangely every time the subject of Courtney was brought up. The only question now was, how to prove his assumption correct. Ezekiel could not go to the others until he had proof, but where could he get it?

For several hours Ezekiel sat, trying to come up with a way to prove his assumption. No matter how hard he thought however, he could not come up with an answer. Ezekiel knew that there was a way to prove Heather was the killer and that it had to be done, but his brain did not seem to want to function properly. Finally Ezekiel decided he could wait no longer, with or without proof he had to tell someone.

He pulled out his phone and dialed without really looking at who he was calling. Honestly, he didn't care, as long as it was one of the others.

"Hello?" Geoff's voice asked. "Who is this?"

"Geoff, it's Zeke." Ezekiel said. "Get Bridgette and come to my room, I have something I need to tell you."


	24. The Face of a Killer

Ten minutes later Geoff and Bridgette arrived at Ezekiel's room. Geoff knocked on the door and Ezekiel answered, ushering them in with a quick glance around the hallway. Bridgette noticed this and glanced at Geoff, her look concerned.

"Zeke, is everything okay?" she asked, once Ezekiel had closed the door.

Ezekiel turned and faced the two of them, his face serious. "I know who killed Courtney." he whispered, staring at them intently. "It was Heather."

Geoff and Bridgette stared at him for a moment, unsure they had heard him correctly. "Uh, could you repeat that please?" Geoff asked.

"Heather killed Courtney." Ezekiel repeated, still staring at them.

"Zeke, do you understand what you're saying?" Bridgette asked. "You're accusing a member of this family of the murder of another."

"I know, that's why I called." Ezekiel replied, slightly annoyed by their reaction.

"How do you know it's Heather?" Geoff asked. "I mean the cops haven't even figured it out yet, and neither has Duncan. What makes you so sure?"

"I just am." Ezekiel said. "Look, it makes sense, eh. Why else would she be acting so secretive, like she's hiding some sort of guilt?"

"Okay, let's say you're right." Geoff said. "Let's say Heather did kill Courtney and you just happened to figure it out, why didn't you call Duncan then? It seems to me like he should have been the first one you'd tell."

"I didn't call him because I don't have proof." said Ezekiel. "I want to know if my hunch is right before I tell him, so he doesn't run off and kill Heather for no reason."

"That makes sense." said Bridgette, glancing at Geoff. "And it is true that Heather has been acting weird lately. This might be worth checking out."

"So what, we're just gonna walk up to Heather and ask her if she killed Courtney?" Geoff asked, staring at his wife. "Cause that seems pretty stupid to me. I mean, who's to say she won't just kill us? And if she doesn't do you really think she's gonna give us a straight answer?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot." said Bridgette.

"Alright, we'll go talk to her, but I'm still not convinced it was her." said Geoff. "Do you have any idea where she might be this early in the morning?"

"There's an ally three blocks from here, that runs between two old office buildings." Ezekiel replied. "I've seen her go there before and I have a feeling that's where she'll be now."

"Been spying on her a lot have you?" Geoff asked. Ezekiel glared at him and moved towards the door. Bridgette moved to follow Zeke, casting a dark look at her husband, who sighed and followed the other two out of the room.

A short time later they arrived at the allyway Ezekiel had described. Geoff and Bridgette froze, Bridgette letting out an audible gasp. Zeke had been right, Heather was there, standing at the far end of the ally, her back turned to them. They approached her cautiously, unsure if she was armed, Geoff's feeling of unease increasing with each step. As they made their way down the ally Heather turned to face them, an evil smile on her face.

"Hey guys." she said casually. "What are you three doing down here?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Ezekiel responded.

"I'm just getting some fresh air, you know, clearing my head." Heather replied.

"Yeah, that's a likely story." said Ezekiel, giving her a dark look. "A dank, foul smelling ally is not my idea of a good place to get fresh air, but I guess that's to be expected from you."

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Heather asked, smiling at Ezekiel.

"Nothing." Ezekiel muttered, glaring at her.

"We have some questions for you Heather." said Geoff, with a quick glance at Ezekiel.

"Do you, Geoffrey?" Heather asked. "Well by all means, ask away. I have nothing to hide from my _family_." Geoff hesitated, not liking the way Heather had emphisized the word "family."

"What were you doing the day Courtney was killed?" Ezekiel asked.

"I was hanging out in my room at the hotel." Heather answered. "I don't remember specifics though, why?"

Ezekiel ignored her question. "Can anyone confirm that?" he asked.

"Ease up Zeke." Geoff whispered. "She's gonna catch on." Ezekiel gave him a dark look and turned back to Heather, who was smiling again.

"Again I ask, why do you want to know what I was doing that day?" Heather asked.

"I have my reasons." Ezekiel replied, his eyes boring into hers.

For a moment there was silence and then Heather spoke again. "Why Zeke, are you accusing me of killing Courtney?" she asked. "Because that would be a very bold move, one you may want to reconsider."

"Well, did you?" he asked. "Kill Courtney, I mean?" He was not at all fazed by Heather's subtle threat and was not about to back down.

"What would you say if I told you I did?" Heather asked, another smile crossing her face.

"I would turn you over to Duncan, so he could exact his revenge." Ezekiel spat.

"That's what I thought." said Heather, as she drew a gun and aimed it at Ezekiel's head.

"Heather, what are you doing?" Bridgette asked, her shock resonating through Geoff and Ezekiel. "Why do you have a gun?"

"I'm cleaning up this little mess." Heather replied, her smile growing wider.

"Oh, God you did kill her, didn't you?" Bridgette breathed.

"Yes, I did." Heather replied. "I killed Courtney. To bad you're never going to know why."

With that, she fired, the bullet striking Ezekiel in the head. For a moment he stood, staring at her before collapsing, dead before he hit the ground.

Bridgette screamed and Geoff dove for a weapon. Heather was faster, but her shot only grazed his shoulder. Bridgette turned to run, hoping to get help, but Heather saw her. She fired three shots, all of them tearing through Bridgette's chest.

"BRIDGETTE!" Geoff screamed from his position on the ground, as his wife fell to the ground. Bridgette gasped, as blood began filling her lungs, her soul straining against the bonds of her body. Thinking quickly, Geoff grabbed a rock and hurled it at Heather's head as she turned to face him. As soon as the rock hit, he dove, grabbing Bridgette and Ezekiel's body, disappearing before Heather could recover.

**A/N: And another one bites the dust, so to speak. I know a few of you are going to be upset by Zeke's demise, but just remember this, I may not have featured him as much as I should have, but he died a hero. Because of Zeke, the others now know of Heather's betrayal and that means they can get their revenge.**


	25. Repercussions & Conclusions

Geoff ran as fast as he could while carrying the weight of two other people. His mind was racing, trying to catch up to the absolute horror he had just witnessed. Heather had betrayed them, and unlike Trent's stunt during the second war, she was actually serious about her betrayal. Geoff could not believe what had just happened, Ezekiel was dead and Bridgette was barely clinging to life. How had this happened, what had driven Heather to such extremes? Geoff had no answers, but it did not matter now. All that mattered now was assuring Bridgette didn't join Zeke and Courtney.

Geoff arrived at the hospital and burst inside, not bothering to answer the questions thrown at him by the people outside. As soon as he was inside he was met by several nurses and security personnel. The nurses took Bridgette from him, assuring him that she would be taken care of. Another couple of nurses took Zeke's body, hauling him down to the morgue. Geoff went with the security people, who took him to a small room in the basement of the hospital. Once they were inside, one security guard forced Geoff into a chair, while the other moved to the other side of the room. The second guard sat and stared at Geoff intently before asking, "What happened? Tell us everything."

Geoff stared at the guard a moment before telling him everything that had happened since Ezekiel had called him. The guards listened in silence, waiting for Geoff to finish before speaking.

"Well, that sounds like quite an adventure." the seated guard said, his voice thick with disbelief. He stared at Geoff, suspicion evident in his eyes.

"It's all true." Geoff shouted. "I swear to you it's all true."

"Alright, alright, there's no need to shout." the standing guard said, placing a hand on Geoff's shoulder. "The woman you brought in, she's your wife correct?"

"Yes." Geoff replied, his voice calmer than before. "Can I go see her?"

"She's in surgery at the moment, but I see no reason why you need to stay here." the standing guard replied. He looked at the other guard, who nodded reluctantly. He and Geoff stood and the guards led Geoff back upstairs where they found the other campers waiting. Geoff was not surprised to see them there, he figured one of the nurses would call the hotel. His eyes met Duncan's and he nodded, confirming what Duncan was thinking.

Geoff looked at the guards who nodded and walked over to the others, the tears beginning to fall as he did. D.J. stepped forward and placed a hand on Geoff's shoulder, before pulling him into a hug. The others closed ranks around them and for a moment no one moved. Then Duncan broke the silence. "Come on." he whispered. "Let's go outside so we can talk about this." Silently the others agreed and they headed outside.

Once there, Duncan turned to Geoff, his expression serious. "What happened?" he asked, his tone intense, but not angry.

"Zeke figured out the truth." Geoff said. He spoke barely above a whisper, but in the absolute silence it sounded like a scream. "Somehow he figured out it was Heather who killed Courtney and when he did he called me and Bridge. We went to his room, he told us what he knew and we went to confront Heather. She tried to deny it, danced around the subject but I could tell it was her. I guess she sensed that, because she pulled a gun on us. The next thing I knew Zeke's lying on the ground with a bullet in his head and I'm diving for a weapon. Bridge tried to run but Heather shot her too. I managed to take her down and then I grabbed Zeke and Bridge and got the fuck out of there." He fell silent and for a moment no one spoke.

"So it's true, Ezekiel is dead?" Eva asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes." said Geoff, without looking at her. "He was so adamant about confronting Heather and I didn't believe him. I didn't think she was dangerous and now Zeke is-" He stopped, his emotions getting the better of him.

"Geoff, this is not your fault." Gwen said, staring at him. "None of us knew Heather was the killer. You went with your gut and so did Zeke. You had no way of knowing she was going to pull a gun on you."

"That doesn't change the fact that Zeke is dead." Geoff muttered glumly.

"No, it doesn't." said Chef. "But Gwen is right, it's not your fault. Zeke made a choice and it cost him, but he knew the risks, just as we all do. This is a lesson you should have learned by now. Life is a series of choices and all we can do is make them and see where they lead." To someone listening to the conversation from the outside, Chef's words may have seemed harsh, but the campers knew he was right. Zeke had made his choice, and though it sounded as if Chef didn't care, the others knew he did. Chef simply had his own way showing sorrow and no one could blame him for that. Still, there was an obvious tension amongst the campers following Chef's words and for a moment no one seemed to be able to respond.

Finally Trent worked up the courage to speak. "Did anyone else know Heather had betrayed us?" he asked, glancing around the group.

"No, but I had a hunch." said Chef. "She had been acting weird ever since Courtney was killed and I thought maybe there was a chance, but I wasn't sure."

"I also thought she was acting strangely, but I didn't connect it to Courtney's murder." said Izzy. "Now that I think about it though, it does make sense."

"I have a question." said Chris, looking at Geoff. "If Zeke knew it was Heather, why did he call you and Bridgette and not Duncan?"

"He wanted to make absolutely certain his hunch was correct first." Geoff replied. "He didn't want to go to Duncan without some kind of proof because he was worried Duncan would kill her and then it would turn out it wasn't her."

"It was a logical choice on his part." Duncan admitted. "Because he was right, I would have gone after her and slit her throat."

At that moment a nurse came out and motioned to them. They turned to hear what she had to say, hopeful that her news was good.

"Ms. Martin is out of surgery." the nurse said, a smile on her face. "She will make a full recovery, though she will need to stay here for a few days." She nodded and headed back into the hospital. After a moment the campers followed her and she lead them to Bridgette's room.

They walked in to find Bridgette awake. She smiled at them as they entered, saving her biggest grin for Geoff. But her smiles did not last long as she remembered the reason she was here. Tears sprang to her eyes as the thought of Ezekiel's body lying cold and motionless passed through her mind. Though she knew what she had seen in the ally, Bridgette's mind rejected it, it could not be true, Heather could not be their enemy. But as Bridgette looked at her friends, she knew it was true, Heather had betrayed them and Ezekiel was gone. Geoff sat on the side of her bed, taking her hands in his as a sign of comfort. He looked at Duncan, who nodded, knowing what Geoff wanted.

Duncan moved where everyone could see him and spoke, his voice echoing strangely in the silence of the small room.

"You all know what happened to this family today so I will not run through the details." he said. "All that matters is we lost two of our number today, one to death and one to her own selfish desires. These actions have changed this family forever and there is nothing to do now but move forward. I want you all to know that Courtney and Zeke's death's will not be in vain. Heather will pay for what she has done, she will know what happens when you betray our family. For every action there is a reaction, a repercussion for the actions that have been made. Ours will be swift and just and at the end of this, the world will know what happens when you face our family."


	26. The Hunt Begins

Later that day Duncan sat alone in his room, staring at a gun in his hand. It was the same gun he had contemplated killing himself with, but now he had different plans. The revelation that Heather was the killer had come as a shock to all of them, but for some reason Duncan was even more surprised than the others. He could not explain why he was so surprised, after all he had known the kind of person Heather was. She had always been a devious, self serving, manipulative person but Duncan had never once thought that she was murderous. He had always figured she was all talk, and not really as evil as she seemed, but he had been wrong. And now, there was nothing to do but exact his revenge, to make her pay for her sins.

A knock at the door drew Duncan out of his musings. "It's open." he called, not looking at the door, knowing full well who was behind it.

Without a word Gwen opened the door and walked in, followed by Trent, Geoff, and D.J. He watched them as they filed into the room, waiting until they were all inside before speaking.

"I know why you guys are here." he muttered. "And it's not gonna work, you're not gonna stop me from going after her."

"We're not here to stop you." said Gwen. "We understand that Heather has to pay, we just want you to think about what you're doing before you do it."

"There's not a lot to think about." Duncan said, without looking at her. "I'm going to find Heather and kill her, seems pretty simple to me."

"Yeah, but think about the consequences dude." said Geoff. "I mean, let's say you do end up killing Heather, what then? What happens to you then? Do you think the cops will just let that shit slide, that they won't arrest you?"

"I fail to see how that's supposed to matter." Duncan said, his temper starting to rise.

"It matters because you'll be just as evil as Heather." said Trent. "You're the one who said all our actions have repercussions. That rule applies to you too. You can't just run out and kill someone because they killed someone you love."

"Oh, you don't think so?" Duncan asked, his voice getting louder. "Fucking watch me."

"Watch you? That's all you can say?" D.J. asked. "Duncan, listen I know you want to get revenge, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. Remember what happened to me when I went after Brendan? I nearly got killed and so could you, so no we're not gonna just sit back and watch you throw yourself into the fire. You're not gonna do this alone. It's either a group effort or nothing."

Duncan glared at the four of them, rage coursing through him. Why couldn't they just let him do this? Why did they have to make things so complicated? All he wanted was to get revenge for his wife, couldn't they understand that? Why did they have to throw themselves into the fire too? But as these questions passed through Duncan's head he already knew why. They were a family, and no amount of arguing was going to convince them otherwise. They would help, whether he wanted them to or not.

"Alright, we'll do it together." Duncan finally muttered. "But we do it my way, got it?"

"Okay, we'll do it your way." said Gwen, smiling at him.

"So, where do we begin?" Trent asked, looking at Duncan.

"I want to check out the ally way where Zeke, Geoff, and Bridgette confronted her." Duncan said. "See if there are any clues as to where she may have gone."

"That makes sense." said D.J., nodding in agreement.

Duncan looked at Geoff. "I'm gonna need you to come along on this Geoff." he said. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah." Geoff replied, though his eyes were not as confident as his voice.

"Alright, let's get to it then." said Duncan, as he headed towards the door. He paused for a moment and then turned around. "Forgot my gun." he muttered.

"Why do you need a gun, we're just going to scope the place out?" Trent asked.

"In case Heather shows up." Duncan said, with a nod. Trent nodded in understanding.

As they headed for the elevators, Gwen stopped causing the others to do so as well. "Gwen, is there a problem?" Duncan asked.

"I was just thinking, shouldn't we tell the others what we're up to?" Gwen asked. "I mean, what if something happens to us? The others won't know where we are and I don't want them to worry or anything."

"I don't think we need to tell them." said Duncan. "Don't worry Gwen, nothing's going to happen to us."

Gwen was still unconvinced, but Trent confirmed Duncan's reassurance. With her husband's support Gwen shook her feelings of unease and they made their way to the ally. They arrived to find it much the same way Geoff had left it earlier. Geoff's eyes immediately traveled to the blood stain where Ezekiel had lay, his hands balling into fists as he stared at it. Gwen and Duncan followed Geoff's stare and Gwen moved to Geoff's side. Trent and D.J. moved down the ally, searching for clues, but there seemed to be no signs of where Heather had gone after the encounter.

Duncan examined the blood stain and noticed more blood leading down the ally. "Which way did Bridgette run?" he asked, looking at Geoff.

"Out towards the street." Geoff replied. "Why? Did you find something?"

"Yeah, blood and it's not Zeke's." said Duncan. "The trail leads back down the ally, towards the fence at the end." He made his way down to the end of the ally where Trent and D.J. were waiting. Geoff and Gwen followed, eager to find out what Duncan was thinking.

"Did you guys see the blood trail?" Duncan asked, looking at Trent and D.J.

"Yeah, just a second ago." D.J. replied. "I didn't see it at first, but then it caught my eye. Do you think it's Heather's?"

"I know it's Heather's." said Duncan. "Geoff said he hit her with a rock so he could escape. It must have done more damage than you thought." He glanced at Geoff who shrugged. "It has to be Heather's blood, because Bridgette didn't come down this way and Zeke's is confined to that one spot." Duncan continued. "Obviously the rock did enough damage and Heather didn't do anything to stop the bleeding." He followed the trail with his eyes, noticing that it lead to the other side of the fence.

"So what does this mean?" Gwen asked, looking at Duncan.

"It means the hunt has begun." Duncan said with a grin. With that he leaped the fence and took off down the other end of the ally.

**A/N: And the hunt has indeed begun. But Duncan's search for Heather will not be the only piece of the puzzle. Other things are at work in this struggle too and it's all leading to an explosive finish!**


	27. Another Long Goodbye

"Wait, Duncan where are you going?" Gwen screamed as Duncan took off. Duncan did not pause to answer, there was not time. He had finally struck upon a true lead and he was intent on finding where it led, no matter what the dangers were.

Gwen watched as Duncan disappeared around the corner before trying to climb the fence herself. Unfortunately her bad leg made this impossible and she slumped against the wall in frustration.

Trent looked at his wife, sharing her frustration. He knew how badly she wanted to help Duncan and he couldn't blame her, he wanted to help too, but sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. "Gwen, let him go." Trent said, his voice soothing. "Duncan will be alright."

Gwen looked at her husband and knew that he was right. Still, this did little to ease her frustration. "Damn this leg." she snarled. "I can't do anything anymore."

"Now we both know that's not true." Trent said. "You still have a lot to offer this family, even if you can't be as physical as you used to be."

Gwen smiled, but she was still not completely soothed. "I will never forgive Brendan for this." she muttered, glancing at her leg.

"And I will never expect you to." said Trent. "But you can't let yourself be defined by one injury, no matter how severe it was."

Gwen nodded and turned to leave, glancing at Geoff and D.J. as she did. They looked at her and then followed, Trent bringing up the rear. There was nothing they could do for Duncan now, as none of them knew where he had gone. Their only choice was to head back to the hotel and hope that nothing happened to him.

Several hours later Duncan arrived back at the hotel to find Trent waiting for him in the lobby. Trent smiled as Duncan approached but his smile quickly faded when he saw the look on Duncan's face. He did not look happy and Trent was pretty sure he knew why.

"Did you find anything?" Trent asked, glancing at his best friend.

"No." Duncan growled. "I followed the trail all the way down to the warehouse district, but then I lost it. I searched around down there for a bit before giving up. Wherever Heather is hiding she's concealed herself pretty damn well. I will say this though, whatever Geoff hit her with, it sure made her bleed. I'm surprised she made it all the way to the warehouses."

"Well, we'll figure out where she is." said Trent, though he was not as confident as he sounded. "It'll have to wait for a bit though."

"Why?" Duncan asked. "What the fuck could possibly be more important than finding Heather?" He stared at Trent intently, awaiting an answer.

"Well, there is one thing." Trent said calmly. "We do need to lay Ezekiel to rest."

Duncan hung his head. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." he said, his voice full of shame. How could he have forgotten Zeke's funeral after the sacrifice he had made to find Courtney's killer? Was Zeke's sacrifice really that meaningless? No, that couldn't be right, Ezekiel had been a great man and Duncan was idiot to think his death had been meaningless. No death was meaningless and Duncan would never again let himself think otherwise.

He looked at Trent and sighed. "God it sucks that he's gone." Duncan said. "I'm sorry he had to die because of me."

"It is sad." Trent agreed. "Zeke was a great guy, but he didn't die because of you. Like Chef said, he made a choice. Zeke wanted to find justice for Courtney just as bad as any of us and I think he did, in his own way. He lead us to Heather at any rate."

"That he did." said Chef's voice. Duncan and Trent turned to find the others standing behind them. "Ezekiel did more for this family than any of us knew." Chef continued. "And it's a damn shame that it took his death to make us realize that." The others nodded in agreement, the pain of losing Ezekiel finally washing over them.

"When's the funeral?" Duncan asked, after a moment of silence.

"Tomorrow at noon." LeShawna replied, her eyes meeting Duncan's for a split second.

"Will Bridgette be there?" Harold asked, looking at Geoff.

"Yeah, she will." said Geoff. "I called the hospital and they said she could come out for this. Bridge would have kicked my ass if I hadn't." The campers shared a laugh at Geoff's words before the dark cloud of sadness enveloped them once again.

The following day the campers made their way to the cemetery for the funeral. They had decided to lay Zeke to rest beside Courtney, since he had died trying to bring her justice. It was a fitting tribute to his memory, a final declaration of their gratitude for him.

Ezekiel's funeral had a different feel to it than Courtney's had. Unlike Courtney's, where certain people had felt more sorrow than others, there was a collective feeling of loss for Ezekiel. Despite this, there were those who felt slightly more pain. Geoff and Bridgette in particular, were greatly saddened by Zeke's death as they had been with him when he died. Harold, Cody, and Noah also felt a deep sense of loss, as Zeke had completed their gang. Eva and Izzy also felt a bit more sorrow as both of them had once considered Zeke as a potential boyfriend, before settling on Noah and Owen instead. Neither of them had told Zeke about this and now that he was gone, it felt like they had betrayed him by keeping their feelings a secret.

As the pastor finished saying his words, Izzy wheeled herself forward, staring at Ezekiel's face. "Zeke, I want to tell you one thing before I lose the chance forever." Izzy whispered. "I want you to know that Eva and I, we seriously considered you. Owen and Noah already know, and I feel like shit for keeping it from you. Know that you were loved and were always a valued member of this family. We will always miss you."

Following Izzy, Duncan stepped forward. "I am so sorry you had to go out like this." he said, looking at Zeke with sorrow in his eyes. "Zeke you were, you are, a greater man than any of us. I wish I had seen that sooner, that I had been more of a friend. But I wasn't and for that I am forever sorry. I want to thank you for all you did for all of us and I want you to know that your death will not be in vain, you will get the vengeance you deserve."

As the campers left the cemetery one of their number remained. Hidden behind a tree a few yards away, Heather watched her former family lay Ezekiel to rest. She smiled to herself, knowing the storm of vengeance was coming for her. "Goodbye Ezekiel." she whispered. "I thank you for your sacrifice, may it not be the last."

**A/N: Sadly, Zeke's death will not be the last, but it'll be a few chapters before anyone else goes. I won't say who bites the dust, but others will. I guess all I can say is pray your favorite character isn't one of them.**


	28. Heather's Treachery

The day after Ezekiel's funeral Duncan awoke early, intent on making progress in his search for Heather. Her trail had gone cold in the warehouse district, but she had to be somewhere. As far as Duncan knew Heather did not posses the ability to disappear into thin air. His only problem was figuring out where she had gone and why her trail had suddenly gone cold. Duncan had turned the possibilities over and over since losing her trail, but none of them made any sense. He had to figure out the answer, and he knew the best way to get past a mental logjam was to consult his friends.

Unfortunately, most of Duncan's friends were still asleep, considering it was six in the morning. However, Duncan knew of two who may be awake, and they were the two he wanted to talk to. He made his way to Gwen and Trent's room, hoping Gwen was awake. He knocked on the door and a moment later Gwen answered.

"Ugh, Duncan what time is it?" she muttered, squinting in the bright lights of the hallway.

"Six in the morning." Duncan replied. "I'm sorry, were you still sleeping?"

"Yeah, but it's okay." Gwen answered. "What do you want?"

"I need someone to bounce theories off of." Duncan replied. "Would you be willing?"

"Sure." Gwen replied. "Just let me get my brace." She turned and headed back into the room. A moment later she returned. "You want me to wake Trent?" she asked.

"No, let him sleep." Duncan muttered. "I have someone else in mind to complete this discussion group." Gwen glanced at him, but didn't ask.

They headed down the hall to Chef's room, Duncan pausing when he heard voices. After a split second of indecision he knocked and the door was wrenched open by Chef a second later. Chef stared at Duncan and Gwen a moment before motioning for them to enter. They entered the room to find Chris, Abigail, and D.J. were there as well.

"So, what brings you two to my room this early in the morning?" Chef asked, eying Duncan and Gwen suspiciously.

"Actually I was hoping to speak with you." Duncan replied. "There's no reason to act so suspicious. We aren't doing anything inappropriate."

"Alright, what did you want to talk about?" Chef asked, glancing around the room. "I assume it's okay if they stay." He gestured at Chris, D.J., and Abigail, who all looked interested in what Duncan had to say.

"Yeah, sure." Duncan muttered. "I wanted to talk about Heather. The other day, when Gwen, D.J., Geoff, Trent, and I went to investigate the ally, I found a blood trail that belonged to her. I followed it down to the warehouse district, but then it went cold. I have a couple of theories about what happened to Heather, but none of them make sense, so I was hoping one of you could help me out."

"That's what we're here to do." said Abigail. "And incidentally, we were talking about Heather before you two showed up."

"So, let's here these theories." said Chris, glancing at Duncan.

"Well, the best explanations I can come up with are, either she's working with someone and they helped her before I reached the warehouses, or she disappeared into thin air." said Duncan.

"Both theories are certainly interesting." said Abigail. "But you're only half right about their sensibility. Only one is even halfway illogical, and even it has it's possibilities. The disappearing into thin air idea is illogical, but it is possible, though not probable in Heather's case. As for the outside help theory, I have been thinking about that one myself."

"So you think there may another enemy for us to worry about?" Duncan asked.

"Yes." Abigail replied. "And it makes sense. Heather would certainly have need of an ally, especially if she intends to take us all out."

"So the question now is, if she has an ally, who is it?" D.J. asked.

"I have no idea, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough." said Abigail, a note of sadness in her voice.

Duncan stared at her for a moment. He knew why the knowledge of Heather's betrayal was particularly painful for her. After all, it had been Heather who had reunited Abigail with her father after nearly eighteen years of separation. He wondered what Abigail would do if she were not in a relationship with D.J. Would she have helped Heather or she have remained loyal to the campers? Where would Heather be now if Abigail was her ally? Duncan punshed the thoughts away, disliking even the thought of Abigail as an enemy.

As it turned out, at that exact moment, Heather was seated in a small cold room in one of the many abandoned warehouses down by the lake. She was staring at the wall opposite her, her expression dark and intense. She seemed to be waiting for someone, and was growing impatient with their tardiness. At that moment the door slid open and a tall, lanky man entered.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Heather asked, glaring at the man. "What have I told you about keeping me waiting?"

"Sorry." the man replied. "I had some trouble procuring the items you asked for."

"Don't let it happen again Silas." Heather snapped. "I don't care what problems you had, don't keep me waiting again."

Silas glared at her, but said nothing. "That's right." Heather muttered. "I'm the one in charge of this-" Her sentence was cut short as Silas suddenly clenched her throat.

"I've had about enough of your dominatrix bullshit Heather." he snarled, his hot breath right in her face. "Don't forget it was you who came to me for help. You wouldn't have gotten this far without me." He released her and Heather stumbled backwards, coughing.

After a moment Heather straightened up and looked at Silas. "Alright, I apologize." she said. "You're right, I would not have been able to pull this off without your help."

"You will do right to remember that the next time you snap at me." Silas growled. "Now, who's are our next target, are we still gonna try your plan of luring the model to us?"

"Yes." said Heather. "And we will succeed. By this time tomorrow, we will have Justin as an ally."

**A/N: That's right, Heather's plans include more than just death and destruction. Also, there seems to have been some confusion regarding a line in the previous chapter. To clarify, when Gwen said "I will never forgive Brendan for this" what she was talking about was the injurie to her knee she sustained at Brendan's hands in the Second War and how she feels that because of the injurie she won't be able to help the others in combat any more because she can't move as fast as she used to. Again, sorry for the confusion.**


	29. The Evils of Love

The following morning, Justin woke early, totally unaware of Heather's sinister plans for him. The last few days had been particularly rough on him, as he had been romantically involved with the traitorous snake. Of all the campers, Justin had been hit hardest by Heather's betrayal, as he still had a desire to be with her, but knew that he could not. No matter how much he loved her, he could not condone her actions. Still, he could not help feeling a desire to go to her and stand with her as the conflict unfolded.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Justin climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. No sooner had he entered, when his phone rang, drawing him back to the main room. He could not think who would be calling him at this hour, but he did not like calls going to voice-mail, so he answered.

"Hello, who is this?" Justin asked, his voice suspicious.

"Justin?" Heather's voice asked from the other end of the line. "It's Heather."

"Heather." Justin breathed, his heart skipping a beat. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk, that's all." Heather's voice answered.

"Talk about what?" Justin asked, growing suspicious again. "If you want to try and convince me it wasn't you who killed Zeke and Courtney, you can save your breath."

"Come on Justin, please just listen to me." Heather's voice begged.

Justin thought for a moment, unsure if he wanted to trust her. On one hand, she did sound like she just wanted to talk. On the other, she could be luring him into a trap. Finally he decided he would take the risk. "Alright, we'll talk." he said. "Where do you want to meet?"

"The coffee shop down the street from the hotel where Lindsey and Beth were attacked by Dorian's goons." Heather's voice replied.

"Alright, see you there in an hour." Justin replied, regretting his decision already.

"See you there." Heather's voice answered, before she hung up. Justin stared at his phone and sighed. He was making perhaps the most ignorant choice of his life, but if he survived, any information he gained could prove useful to Duncan's plans.

Ten minutes later, Justin made his way downstairs for breakfast. He entered the breakfast room to find Cody and Beth sitting at the far table. He walked over to them and sat down, smiling at them as he did. Cody nodded and Beth returned his smile. "Good morning Justin." she said, her tone cheerful. "You're up early."

"I could say the same about you." Justin replied, smiling again.

"Yeah, well it doesn't feel right to sleep in when there's so much we should be doing." said Cody. "You know, about Heather and whatever."

"Funny you should mention Heather actually." said Justin, trying to keep his tone casual. "Cuz she called me earlier, saying she wanted to meet."

Cody choked on his coffee and Beth gasped. "Have you mentioned this to anyone else?" Beth asked, a look of horror on her face.

"You two are the first people I've seen today." Justin replied. "So no, I haven't told anyone else and I expect it to stay that way. I'm gonna go see what she wants and if things turn ugly I'll get out. As far as I can tell all she wants to do is talk."

"Yeah, that's what Courtney thought and look what happened to her." said Cody. "What if she catches you off guard like she did with Geoff, Zeke, and Bridgette? What if she's luring you into a trap? You could be walking into your own demise."

"Don't you think I've thought about the consequences?" Justin asked. "I know perfectly well how dangerous Heather is and I know what I'm doing. I'm going to meet her and you are not going to stop me." He stared intently at Cody and rose from the table. With one final glance at the two of them he walked out and made his way to the coffee shop.

An hour later, Heather arrived and she was not alone. Justin stood and nodded as she entered the coffee shop. He glanced at her companion and then looked back at her. "Who's your friend?" he asked.

"This is Silas O'Shea." Heather replied. "He's been helping me in my, well you know." She smiled and Silas nodded, a grin on his face as well.

Justin did not return the greeting and stared at Heather suspiciously. "So you have an accomplice?" he asked. "I should have guessed that. And he's been helping you pick off the members of your family, is that it?"

"They're not my family, not anymore." Heather replied, her voice cold.

"That's where you're wrong Heather." Justin said, keeping his eyes focused on her. "We are still your family and we don't want to have to kill you."

"Is that true Justin?" Heather asked. "Is that what Duncan and the others actually think or is that what you want them to think? Because either way, it's a load of shit."

"Why did you ask me to meet you here?" Justin asked, abruptly changing the subject. "You obviously have no desire to live with the family anymore and you don't want to simply talk, so why did you invite me here?"

"Because I want you to join me." Heather replied, another smile crossing her face.

Justin stared at her, hardly daring to believe what he had just heard. "Are you fucking insane?" he asked, after a moment. "You think I would really join you after what you've done?"

"No." Heather replied. "I don't think you will join me, I know you will."

"Oh really. And just how do you figure that?" Justin asked.

"Because you still love me." Heather replied. "In your heart of hearts you know you still want me and the only way that's gonna happen is if you join me."

Justin stared at her, too shocked to speak. He knew that she was right. He did still love her and he wanted to be with her, but he couldn't just ignore the things she had done. But Justin acknowledged that point as well, the only way to be with her was to join her, regardless of what she had done to the others. It was a fight he could not win, in the end love triumphs over all.

Justin looked at Heather and sighed. "Alright, I'll join you, but only because I love you." he said, his eyes full of regret.

"Excellent." said Heather. "You have just spared yourself Justin, well done." She ignored the look in his eyes as she rose from her seat and moved towards the exit.

"Ah, the evils of love." Silas mused as they left the coffee shop. "Just when you think you've escaped it's clutches, it comes back for you."

Across the street, well hidden behind a clump of bushes, Cody watched them go. He had followed Justin to give him backup in case something went wrong, but Cody had not anticipated what he just witnessed. Never in a million years would he have thought Justin would join Heather, dispite Justin's love for her. "Shit." he muttered. "This is not good." He waited until they had disappeared from view before racing back to the hotel, arriving to find Beth and Duncan waiting for him.

"So, what did you find out?" Beth asked, staring at him. "Did Heather attack Justin?"

"No, worse." Cody replied, looking from Beth to Duncan. "Justin has joined Heather."

"Shit, shit, motherfucking shit!" Duncan growled. "Damn that bastard and his desire for treacherous snake pussy."

"It's even worse than that dude." said Cody, glancing at Duncan again.

"How can it be worse?" Duncan asked.

"She has another ally, some guy named Silas O'Shea." Cody replied. "He's been helping her for a while now, by the sound of things."

"Great, just fucking great." said Duncan. "I didn't want to fight another war, but it looks like we don't have a choice now. Well, we better go fill the others in, if we're gonna fight another war we're gonna need to be prepared."

**A/N: Well, there you go. Justin has gone over to the dark side. It shouldn't be that surprising really, given that Justin was one of the main antagonists on the show. And now the campers are forced to face two of their own, complicating matters further. What are Heather's ultimate plans and how does Justin figure into them? Stay tuned to find out!**


	30. Playing Games

Cody's news was not well received by the others, but that was to be expected. The knowledge that Justin had betrayed them was bad enough, but to learn that Heather had been receiving help this whole time made the situation that much worse. Cody had not been able to determine exactly how big a threat Silas was and Abigail had never heard of him. Still, if he was able to give Heather the means to kill Courtney and Ezekiel, he had to at least have connections to criminal underbelly, which was not favorable.

"So, if we don't know what this Silas dude's connections are how are we supposed to be prepared for him?" Tyler asked. They were gathered at the hospital so Bridgette could be part of their discussion, seeing as she was unable to leave.

"I'm more concerned about Heather at this point." Duncan said, in response to Tyler's question. "If we can take her out we shouldn't have to worry about Silas."

"Theoretically you're correct." said Abigail. "But it is important to know just how strong the partnership between them is. If Silas has fallen for Heather, he may not relent just because we eliminate her. He may be too invested in whatever they are planning to abandon it simply because Heather has been taken care of."

"Alright, I see your point." said Duncan. "We can't just ignore Silas, but I still say Heather is the bigger threat."

"That's fair." said Abigail. "But remember, there's also Justin to factor into the equation. He may have joined Heather now, but that does not mean he will stay loyal to her. Justin has stronger morals than she does and it may come to the point where he can't bring himself to go along with her plans any longer in which case we would most likely get him back. Or we could force him to abandon her, which may not be easy, but it could be done."

"This is why I like you." said Duncan, grinning. "You're always thinking of ways to get around the problems we're faced with. And as far as Justin is concerned, if he shows a desire to leave Heather, I'll talk to him. If not, he can take his pretty boy ass to hell with the traitorous bitch he betrayed us for."

"That seems fair to me." said Trent. "But I think you should give Justin a chance before you condemn him. Heather is beyond hope, but Justin may not be. We all know Heather can be manipulative and she may have just gotten him with her charms."

"Alright, I'll try to give him a chance." said Duncan. "But I remain unconvinced that he will come back to us until I see proof."

"Okay, so are we all in agreement on this?" Trent asked the group at large. "We will give Justin a chance but Heather is no longer worthy of our trust or mercy."

The others all nodded in agreement. It was obvious to all of them that Heather could not be given an mercy. Even Bridgette, Beth, Katie, Sadie, and Lindsey who were normally repulsed by the idea of killing agreed that Heather had to die. She had betrayed them and killed two of their number, no matter how wrong killing her was, she had to pay for her crimes.

"Okay, that settles that." said Trent. "Looks like the third war can officially begin." He glanced at Duncan and cocked an eyebrow. "Are we really gonna call it the third war?"

"No, this will be different." Duncan replied. "We will not fight another war, not with Heather. I know that the chances of this becoming a war do exist, but I plan on stopping it before it gets that far. This will not be a war, it will be a hunt."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. D.J. answered as he was closest. It was their favorite nurse and she had a panicked look on her face.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" D.J. asked, looking at the nurse in concern.

The nurse cast a nervous glance at D.J. before handing him a scrap of paper. "This was given to me by some men. They told me to bring it to you."

"Did these men say who they were or who they worked for?" D.J. asked.

"No all they told me was it was very important that you guys got that paper." the nurse replied, casting another nervous glance at D.J. "Is there some kind of trouble you all have gotten into?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Duncan stepped forward and took over the conversation. "No, there's nothing wrong." he said, his voice calm and soothing. "I promise nothing is going to happen to this hospital again. We can take care of whatever is on that piece of paper. Thank you for bringing it to us."

The nurse nodded and left. Duncan turned back to D.J., who handed him the scrap of paper without question. Duncan unfolded the scrap and stared at it for several minutes, his expression growing darker with each minute. Finally, he looked up at the others, who were all staring at him intently. "What's it say?" Harold asked.

"It says fucking nothing." Duncan growled. "There's only a fucking address on this scrap of paper, nothing else."

"What's the address?" Gwen asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew.

"415 Sheppard Ave." Duncan replied. "The house where Courtney was killed."

"What the hell?" Trent asked, scratching his head. "Why the hell did she send us the address, we already knew that. What the fuck is she playing at?"

"Maybe it was Justin who wrote it." Cody suggested. "Maybe there's something there he wants us to find."

"No, it's Heather's handwriting." said Duncan. "Besides there's nothing at that house, Trent and I have already checked. But what the hell does she want? Is she actually trying to tell me something or is she just trying to lure me into a trap?"

"I'm thinking trap." said Chef. "She knows you know there's nothing in the house, so she's obviously trying to set up something to catch you off guard."

Duncan stared at Chef a moment before walking out of the room. Trent and Chef followed him. "Duncan, where the hell are you going?" Trent called.

"I'm going back to the house, maybe there's something I missed." Duncan replied.

"You can't be serious dude." said Trent. "You know there's nothing there."

"I'm still going, try and stop me." Duncan growled. Trent stared at him, but Chef reached out and caught Duncan by the shoulder.

"You're not going to that damnable house by yourself." Chef growled. "I won't stop you, but me and Trent are coming with you, try and stop us."

"Fine." Duncan sighed. "But we're going now and I am in charge." The other two nodded and they set off, arriving at the house twenty minutes later. They did not even make it into the house before Duncan spotted another note stuck to the door. It gave them another address, this time down in the warehouse district. They made their way down to the warehouse district only to find another note. After bouncing around Toronto for another half hour they finally found what seemed to be the last note, outside of the city near Dorian's old compound.

"What's this one say?" Trent asked. "Does it give us any answers?"

"No." Duncan growled. "The fucking bitch is playing games with us. None of these notes was supposed to lead us anywhere."

"Very good Duncan." said a voice behind them. "I wasn't sure if you'd be smart enough to follow my little clues." The three spun around to find Heather, Justin, and Silas standing before them. "But apparently I misjudged your intelligence." Heather continued. "You figured it out and you made it to my last clue. I'm very proud of you, any last words?"

**A/N: In case you're wondering the notes were meant to lure Duncan into a trap, and unfortunately for him he walked right into it.**


	31. Outmanuvered

Heather smiled as she drew a gun and aimed it at Duncan's head. Duncan stared at her for a moment before diving behind a tree a half second before she fired. Trent and Chef followed Duncan's lead diving for cover as well. They had expected some sort of trap, but they had not expected it would directly involve Heather. Fortunately, Duncan was prepared and returned fire, smiling when he heard Heather yelp in surprise. He glanced at Chef and muttered, "Well, I guess you were right about the trap."

"Gee, ya think?" Chef growled. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Too late now." Duncan muttered. "I wasn't expecting Heather to be here though."

"Yeah, that is kinda surprising." said Trent. "Never thought she'd be the kind to-shit!" He shouted as a bullet whizzed past his head.

"Keep your head down, goddamn it." Chef growled. "I don't want to take you back to Gwen with a bullet hole in your head."

Trent nodded and they made their way deeper into the woods. They could hear Heather, Silas, and Justin pursuing them, but they had no idea where the other three were. There was only one way to go and that was deeper into the forest, back towards Dorian's old compound.

After several more minutes of running, Heather's voice called out, cold and clear in the dead silence. "I'm growing tired of this boys." she said, her tone mocking. "Why don't you just send Duncan to me and we can end this little game."

"Yeah right." Duncan called back. "You expect me to believe you're just gonna let Chef and Trent go after I give myself up? You're even dumber than I thought."

"I would watch what you say Duncan." Heather replied. "I can hurt you, you know that."

"You've already hurt me, you traitorous whore." Duncan shouted. "You took Courtney from me, what else could you possibly do to me?"

"I could kill you." Heather replied, her voice full of delight at the prospect. "I could end your life just as easily as I ended hers. How can you bring her justice if you're-" Her sentence was cut short as Duncan fired at her from behind a tree. Heather dodged the bullet and returned fire, one of her bullets glancing off Duncan's shoulder.

"Shit!" Duncan growled. "You may have a point there, Heather. I can't deny that. But I really don't care what happens to me as long as you go down first."

"But what about the others?" Heather asked. "What about Gwen? What does she think about that plan?"

Duncan was silent for a moment. He had not thought about how the others would feel about his ultimate plan. He had not told them that he planed to die along with Heather. It was the only way he could see the fight going down, but now that he thought about it, Heather was right, giving up his life just to take hers would definitely cause the others undue pain. But that didn't matter now, this was the only way.

"It doesn't matter what they think." Duncan finally answered. "It's my life, my choice. They'll get over it." Hearing this, Trent and Chef both froze and exchanged a look of concern, neither of them liking Duncan's response.

Heather laughed, surprised by Duncan's answer. "Is that really what you think?" she asked. "Do you really think that you can just give up your life and they'll forget all about you? You're their leader Duncan, they will never forget you."

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Duncan asked. "You're not part of our family anymore, why do you care what I do?"

"I care because my life hangs in the balance." Heather replied. "And I will not allow your desire for revenge derail my plans."

"Plans? What plans?" Duncan asked, puzzled. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Heather said. "Unfortunately for you, you never will." With that, she exploded around the corner and fired off a volley of shots before realizing Duncan wasn't there. "Shit." she muttered. "Where the hell did he go?"

"Looking for me?" Duncan asked, stepping out from behind another tree. Heather looked at him in shock. How had he made it from one tree to the next without her noticing? Duncan did not posses that kind of stealth, how had he outmaneuvered her? It was at that moment that Heather realized what Duncan was doing. He was using their back and forth insulting to cloak his movements. Heather had been so focused on their conversation she had not noticed that he had moved.

"Well done Duncan." Heather said, smiling. "Using conversation to distract me. Very clever, very clever indeed. But I'm on to you now, you won't escape me again."

"Come and get me then." Duncan said, with a mocking smile.

At that moment, Justin burst through the underbrush behind Duncan. He grabbed the punk, pinning his arms to his side. Seconds later, Silas stepped out from the underbrush as well, a twisted grin on his face. "Well done Justin." Silas muttered. Justin nodded and smiled.

Heather stepped forward, her eyes burning with anticipation. "Well, game over Duncan." she said. "Looks like I win." Duncan glared at her, hatred coursing through him. "Any last words before I send you to your precious Courtney?" Heather continued, her tone mocking. Duncan remained silent, he would not dignify her with a response. "Alright then, hope you enjoy-" Heather's sentence was once again cut short, this time by Chef's fist as it connected with her face.

Silas spun, raising his gun, but Chef was in his face before he had a chance to use it. Justin released Duncan and lunged at Chef, but a kick from Trent caught him in the ribs before he could reach him. Chef pulled Duncan to his feet, before drilling Silas with another punch.

"Head to the river." he shouted. "We can make it back to the city from there."

Duncan nodded and he and Trent took off, Chef close behind them. Heather pursued, followed by Justin and Silas. As they reached the bridge to Dorian's compound, Heather realized Chef had lead her into a trap. Waiting on the other end of the bridge were Geoff, D.J., Abigail, Tyler, and Eva, all of them heavily armed. Duncan smiled at the sight of his friends and he turned to face Heather once again. "Looks like I win, Heather." he said, a grin spreading across his face.

Heather and her companions stopped up short, unwilling to approach such a large number of enemies. Chef and Trent turned and stood on either side of Duncan, the others closing ranks behind them. "Give it up Heather, there's nowhere left to run." said Duncan.

"That's what you think." Heather said. With that, she pulled a gas pellet from her pocket and flung it at the ground. The pellet exploded and the bridge was engulfed in thick white smoke. Duncan briefly caught sight of Heather as she dove over the edge of the bridge, but he was not able to get a hold of her before she went over. By the time the smoke had cleared Heather and her companions were gone and Duncan was left staring at the spot where she had jumped, a feeling of emptiness rising in his chest. Heather had outmaneuvered him and he had lost his chance at revenge.

**A/N: By the way, the others were on the bridge because Trent had been texting them the locations of each of Heather's notes, finally making plans for them to meet up on the bridge if he, Duncan, and Chef got into trouble.**


	32. Making Progress

In the days that followed the confrontation with Heather, Duncan brooded over his failure to take her down. He had been so close, only to have it all slip through his fingers. Never in his life had Duncan been so frustrated with himself. How had he managed to let her escape? The plan had been flawless, how had she outmaneuvered him? Duncan had no answers, but he would not give up. There had to be a way to catch Heather, he just had to figure out how. The problem was, he had no idea where she had disappeared to after jumping off the bridge. It was obvious that there had been someone waiting below to catch her, otherwise she wouldn't have jumped, but who could it have been? Justin and Silas had been with her, so who else was helping them? This would be the next clue Duncan would pursue in his ever more complex investigation.

While Duncan was stalled in his mission to avenge the dead, other members of his family were making progress in their personal struggles. Chief among them was Izzy who, in the month since her spinal surgery, had regained feeling in all ten of her toes as well as partial movement in three. She was still confined to her wheelchair, but the remarkably fast progress was a cause for hope. Her legs had been fitted with braces so she could begin progressing towards walking again. Izzy was particularly excited about her next therapy session, as she would be getting her first chance at attempting to stand and, possibly, walk.

The morning of Izzy's next therapy session dawned bright and clear, the perfect kind of day for regaining the ability to walk. Izzy awoke early and glanced at Owen, who was snoring beside her. She smiled as she watched him. In many ways Owen was still the lovable goof-ball he had been when they first met, but Izzy knew that beneath his fun loving exterior Owen was a changed man. Nearly losing Izzy twice had left him deeply scarred and now he had her to look after. Izzy was glad to have Owen in her life, if it had been anyone else she would have been left to deal with her paralysis alone.

Izzy waited for a few minutes before nudging Owen with her elbow. Owen grunted and rolled over, his eyes locking with hers. "Hey." he muttered, sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty." Izzy answered. "We still have an hour until my therapy session."

"Oh shit, your therapy session." Owen yelped. "I totally forgot that was today."

"It's okay Owen, that's why I'm here." Izzy said, smiling at her husband. "I'm the one with the brains and you're the one with the brawn."

Owen ginned and rolled out of bed. He appreciated Izzy's sense of humor, especially when she was making jokes about their relationship. After pulling on a shirt, Owen made his way to the other side of the bed and helped Izzy into her wheelchair. This was an action Owen had steadily gotten used to in the months since John McCormac and his crew had returned Izzy to him. For the first few weeks, Owen had been slightly unnerved by the sight of Izzy in the chair, but he had gotten used to it. Still, the knowledge that even the toughest person he knew was breakable left Owen with a feeling of oppression at his own mortality.

The two of them finished getting dressed and then made their way downstairs to grab a quick breakfast before heading to the hospital. They were met by Noah and Eva who would be joining them on this trip to the therapist.

"Well, here we are, the big day." Noah said, as they made their way out to the car. Izzy smiled at him and hoped he was right. With any luck she would take her first steps in over five months during this session. If she did, it would most certainly be a big day.

They arrived at the hospital ten minutes later and made their way to the therapy center. Upon arrival, they were greeted by the same nurse who always greeted them and were ushered inside. After getting settled the nurse turned to them and said, "Doctor Wyngard will be with you in a few." Doctor Wyngard was the man who had performed Izzy's surgery and was also one of the five therapists who worked at the hospital. Since he had performed Izzy's surgery he had been assigned to act as her personal therapist. A few minutes after the nurse left, Doctor Wyngard entered the room and the therapy session began.

"Well, how are we doing today Izzy?" Doctor Wyngard asked, after taking a seat.

"Pretty good." said Izzy, smiling. She liked Doctor Wyngard, he was always straight forward with her and did not try to push her to do more than she was ready for.

"How are those braces working out for you?" he asked, looking at Izzy critically.

"They're working out pretty good." Izzy replied. "They can be a bit uncomfortable at times but you said last time that would happen, so I'm not worried about that."

"Alright, sounds like everything's in working order so, lets get to work." said Doctor Wyngard, with a smile.

He and Owen helped Izzy out of her wheelchair and onto the floor. Doctor Wyngard then began stretching the muscles in Izzy's legs to strengthen them, using an electrical current to help stimulate the nerves. After a half hour of stretching, Doctor Wyngard checked Izzy for any regained feeling and then began the standing test. He and Owen helped Izzy to her feet and then Doctor Wyngard looked at her, a serious expression on his face.

"Okay, here's how this is gonna work." he said. "On the count of three, Owen and I are going to let go of you and you are going to try and stand on your toes okay."

Izzy nodded and Doctor Wyngard continued. "We will be right here in case you fall." He looked at Izzy, who nodded again. "Ready?" he asked. Izzy nodded a third time. "Okay, one, two, three." Doctor Wyngard and Owen let go of Izzy and for a brief moment she stood before wavering, her legs giving out under the weight of her upper body. Owen caught her before she hit the floor and Izzy smiled at him. It hadn't been for long, but she had stood, for the first time in five months she had stood.

"That was very good Izzy." said Doctor Wyngard, with another smile. Owen beamed at her and Noah and Eva clapped, happy to see Izzy succeed on her first try. Izzy would make several more attempts at standing before calling it quits for the day. She and the others returned to the hotel, satisfied with the progress she had made, though Izzy was a little disappointed she had not gotten a chance to try and walk. Still, it had been a good session.

They arrived back at the hotel to find more good news waiting for them. Duncan had discovered exactly how Heather had managed to escape on the bridge and it had lead to a clue about what her ultimate plan was.

"It was some goon of Silas' down in a boat who allowed them to escape." said Duncan, once everyone was gathered. "I tracked him down to an abandoned apartment complex and got him to talk. Apparently Heather is planning on killing all of us out of some deluded fantasy that she is the true champion of TDI and TDA."

"That's why she's trying to kill us?" Gwen asked, perplexed by Heather's stupidity.

"So it seems." Duncan replied, with a shrug.

"That's just insane." said Noah. "We all know who won each season and it doesn't matter now anyway. Those competitions are behind us, so why is she now suddenly so interest in making herself supreme champion or whatever?"

"Search me." said Duncan. "But I can say this, I don't think she just recently decide on this insane idea. I think it's been brewing in her ever since Owen won TDI." He paused and looked at Izzy. "By the way, how did therapy go Iz?"

"Pretty well." Izzy replied. "I stood for the first time in five months."

"That's awesome Iz." said Harold, with a huge grin.

"Yeah, congratulations Izzy." said Beth. "It's good to see your surgery worked."

Izzy smiled and thanked her friends, though she knew she was still a long way from being fully functional again.

"This is what I like to see." said Duncan. "Progress, moving forward, despite what's happened to us in the past. Making progress on all fronts, that's what I call a good day."

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter kinda reveals my lack of knowledge about medical procedures and how recovery and rehab work, but I'm not a doctor so I guess that's to be expected. Anyway, I know it's fairly unrealistic for Izzy to have regained that much feeling and movement, let alone be able to stand, after only five months, but since Izzy isn't exactly what you'd call normal, I decided to take some liberties. Also, I had originally named Dr. Wyngard, Dr. Thomas, but I changed the name to avoid confusion with Thomas Locke from the Hunted. Finally, let me know if you buy Heather's reasons for betrayal. Do you think she's really killing out of jelousy or is she up to something else?**


	33. More Than Best Friends

The campers finally had an answer for Heather's actions, though their were many among them who doubted it was her only reason. It just didn't make sense for Heather to base her entire scheme on who won TDI. True, she had wanted to win, but they had all wanted that and none of the others were going around murdering their friends. It was possible, though unlikely, that she had wanted to win more than the others, but that still didn't explain why she had been pushed to the point of murder. Whatever the answers were, the campers were determined to find them. There were a couple, however, who had other issues to deal with at the moment and they were not as concerned about Heather's fate as the others.

Katie sat on the roof of the hotel staring out across the city, her thoughts spinning in her head. She had a problem, one she had been wrestling with for months, and she was unsure about how to go about telling the others. She had Sadie's support, but that was to be expected, as this problem belonged to Sadie too. The real issue was her fear over how the others would react if she told them, which was irrational because she knew they wouldn't care. Still, Katie could not not shake her fear that if she told them the truth she and Sadie would be cast out.

The sound of the roof access door opening drew Katie out of her reverie. She turned to see Sadie walking towards her, a look of confusion on her face. Katie smiled as her best friend sat down next to her, ignoring the look on Sadie's face. "Hey." she said, her voice drawn and calm.

Sadie stared at her for a moment before responding. "Uh, hey." she said, still confused.

For a moment there was silence between them and then Sadie asked, "So, why did you want to meet me up here?" She watched Katie closely as she awaited an answer.

"Well, we need to talk about something important." Katie replied.

Sadie sighed. She hated it when Katie was obscure like this, but she had a feeling she knew what her best friend was getting at. "Something important huh?" she asked. "This something important wouldn't have anything to do with our relationship, would it?"

"Well, yes, actually it does." Katie replied. "I think it's time we tell the others the truth about us. It isn't fair to keep them in the dark."

"Oh, for God's sake Katie." Sadie groaned, rolling her eyes. "Don't put me through this again, I don't want to hear it."

"But Sadie, they need to know." Katie pleaded, staring Sadie in the eye.

"They probably already know the truth." Sadie replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "Why are you so scared about this anyway, it's not like their gonna hate us."

"But what if they do?" Katie asked. "What if they think we're freaks for being, you know-" She stopped, unwilling to complete her sentence.

"You really think the others are going to hate us because we're lesbians?" Sadie asked, staring at Katie incredulously. "We live in the twenty first century Katie, no one is going to care. Besides, you're the one who wants to tell them."

Katie glared at her BFFFL, shocked that Sadie was so unfazed by their problem. How could she be so sure that the others would accept them if they knew the truth? Hadn't Sadie seen what had happened to other relationships once the truth was reveled? Didn't she think the same thing could happen to the two of them?

"Yes, I am the one who wants to tell them." Katie answered after a moment. "But I will only do it if you have my back, I can't do it alone."

"Of course I've got your back Katie." Sadie replied. "But I'm telling you, they already know. However, if you would feel better telling them, we'll do it, but you have to promise me you won't be afraid."

Katie nodded and they made their way back into the hotel. They called the others together and met them down in th the lounge, where they could have some privacy. Once everyone was gathered, Katie and Sadie turned to face their family.

For a moment there was silence and then Duncan spoke. "So, we're all here, what did you want to tell us?" He stared at the two of them, awaiting their response.

"Well, there's something we wanted to tell all of you." Katie began. "I don't know quite how to say this, but, well Sadie and I are more than best friends."

"What exactly do you mean by more?" Lindsey asked, glancing at Katie.

"What Katie is trying to say is, we're lesbians." Sadie answered.

For a moment the room was silent and then Duncan burst out laughing, followed by most of the others. Katie and Sadie glared at them, taken aback by this reaction. After a few minutes, Sadie finally asked, "Alright, what the hell is so damn funny?"

"I'm sorry." said Duncan, clutching his side. "I didn't mean to laugh, but are you serious, you brought us all here to tell us you're lesbians?"

"Yes, we thought you should know." Katie replied, still glaring at him.

"We already knew that." said Duncan, still fighting to control his laughter.

"We did?" Owen asked. "This is the first time I've heard about this, when did everybody else figure it out?"

"Come on dude." said Duncan. "It's so obvious, I've known since before the reunion and we all know I don't pay attention to shit like that."

Owen stared at Duncan, still perplexed. He looked at Izzy, who chuckled at his ignorance. "Did you know?" Owen asked, still staring at his wife.

"Yes." Izzy replied. "I was one of the first to figure it out actually. We were still at camp Wawanakwa when I first developed my suspicions and I just followed them through to the logical conclusion. Don't feel bad about not knowing, some people don't pick up on these things that easily."

"So, you guys have really known this whole time?" Katie asked, looking around the room. "And you have no problems with it?"

"Yes, we've all, with the exception of Owen, known for quite some time." said Gwen. "And of course we're okay with it, why wouldn't we be?"

"Katie had this crazy notion that you wouldn't accept us for some reason." Sadie answered.

"Well, don't worry about it Katie." said Duncan. "You're a part of this family, no matter how supposedly different you are from the rest of us."

"That's great." Katie said, smiling at Duncan, before turning to Sadie and planting a kiss on her lips. Duncan smirked and the others cheered, glad that Katie and Sadie finally knew that all of them had always known the truth.

As the group celebrated, Duncan turned his attention back towards the issue of Heather. He had to find her, and soon, before she had a chance to strike again. Unfortunately for Duncan, Heather already had a new plan in place, one even more sinister than murder.

**A/N: Okay, so I know that bit of fluff kinda deviated from the main plot but I felt like throwing it in there for...some damn reason, I'm not really sure why, actually. I guess I thought making Katie and Sadie lesbians was a logical thing to do and felt this was as good a time as any to reveal it. I probably should have mentioned it earlier in the story, but whatever, it is what it is. So, there you go, another nice little break from the monotony of violence and mystery.**


	34. The Kidnap

Heather stood, half concealed in the shadows, waiting for Justin and Silas to arrive. After several minutes of waiting, a black SUV pulled up in front of the warehouse Heather had been using as a base. She smiled and flicked the butt of her cigarette to the ground before approaching the vehicle. As she approached, Justin rolled down the drivers side window and flashed a sadistic smile. Heather returned his smile and climbed into the back of the SUV. Silas rode shotgun and glanced at Heather as she settled herself in the seat, a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Are we ready to proceed?" Heather asked, as they pulled away from the warehouse.

"Yes." Silas replied. "The target will be in the park at 2:30 this afternoon. We should have no problem taking her."

"Excellent." Heather said, another evil grin crossing her face. "I trust I do not need to remind either of you what the consequences will be if we fail."

"No, we understand the magnitude of this mission." Justin replied, glancing at Silas.

"Good, because everything hinges on this plan." Heather replied. "Failure will cost us everything we have worked for."

"I do have a question though." said Justin, after a moment of silence.

"What would you like to know Justin?" Heather asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I just-do we really have to kidnap her?" Justin asked. "I mean, I know she's important to you and all, but will our plans really fall through if we don't have her?"

"Yes, they will!" Heather snapped. "She is the key, more essential than any of them. If we take her it will force the others to come for her, to act with emotion, which brings on all kinds of irrational actions, which makes them easier to kill."

"But isn't taking her in broad daylight a little risky?" Justin pressed. "What if someone, like say, Duncan, sees us?"

"That's what my sharpshooters are for." Silas muttered. "For God's sake Justin we went over the plan only a few hours ago, and you were fine with it then. What the fuck changed?"

"I just don't like the way-" Justin began, but Heather cut him off.

"It is too late for second guessing now." she snapped. "This is the plan and we will carry it out no matter what your fears are, understand?" Justin nodded. "Good, now shut up and drive." Heather continued, without looking at him.

Justin sighed and focused his attention back on the road. He still had his reservations about this plan and he was beginning to regret his decision to join Heather and Silas. But Heather was right, it was too late for regrets, so for better or worse Justin would have to live with his decisions.

Several hours later, Lindsey left the hotel and made her way to the park, taking Allison out for the first time. They were joined by Beth, Katie, and Sadie, who had arranged this outing. They arrived at the park and made their way to a set of benches. Allison was still too young to play on the playground equipment, but Lindsey wanted her to experience the park anyway. More importantly, she wanted her daughter to get some fresh air, after spending the last few days cooped up in the hotel.

For over an hour the four of them sat there, talking and relaxing, Beth and Lindsey enjoying the time away from Cody and Tyler. They each took turns playing with Allison, all of them keen to ensure she got enough stimulation. The scene was peaceful and calm, separate from the other activity in the park. None of them had any inkling of the fast approaching danger that would shatter their perfect day in the cruelest of fashions.

As they got up to leave, Beth caught sight of a man in a long dark trench-coat. He had his back turned towards her so she could not be sure, but there was something familiar about this man. It was as though Beth had seen him before, but she could not remember where. For a moment Beth stared at the man and then, as he turned towards her, she realized with horror who it was.

"Justin!" Beth breathed, her breath catching in her chest.

"What's that?" Katie asked, as she turned to see what had caught Beth's attention. Her gaze followed Beth's and her eyes met with Justin's. "Oh shit!" she said, her eyes widening. Lindsey and Sadie turned, and froze as they spotted Justin too.

Justin smiled and approached them, his right hand extended in greeting. "Beth, it's wonderful to see you again." he said, his voice honey sweet.

"You stay away from us." Beth warned. "Don't you dare come any closer."

"Beth, I only want to talk." Justin said, his voice still alluring. "I do not wish to harm you."

"You don't, but Heather does." Beth replied, backing away from him. "Where is the treacherous snake anyway?"

"Oh, she's not here." Justin replied, flashing a smile. "I don't work for her any more."

"Bullshit!" Katie shouted. "You were wrapped around her finger before she betrayed us and you still are now. Don't think this little charade will fool us, we know better. Your charms don't work on us anymore and you've never been more than a lackey for that bitch."

"Katie, such venom!" said Heather from behind them. "I must say I'm surprised such hateful words could come from your pretty mouth."

Katie spun to find herself face to face with Heather. Heather smiled and walked past her, moving towards Lindsey. Lindsey glared at her former best friend, her brilliant blue eyes radiating hatred. Her look was shared by the others, who all stared at Heather, waiting for her to make a move. After several tense minutes, Silas slinked out of the trees and moved to stand next to Heather.

"What do you three want?" Lindsey asked, her eyes never leaving Heather.

"Isn't it obvious?" Heather asked. Lindsey shook her head, unsure how to answer. Heather smiled again and continued. "We're here for you." She looked directly at Lindsey, her smile widening.

"No!" Beth shouted. "You can't have her."

"And what exactly are you going to do to stop us?" Heather asked, with a chuckle.

Beth didn't respond. The truth was, there wasn't really much she could do. She had no idea how many allies Heather could have hidden in the park and she was not sure she could take Heather on by herself. Heather smiled again. "That's what I thought." she muttered.

"No." said Katie. "You won't take her and I'll make sure of that." With that she lunged at Heather, but before she could reach her a shot rang out, throwing Katie to the ground.

The action that followed happened so quickly, neither Beth nor Sadie had time to react. Like a flash of lightning, Silas grabbed Lindsey and Allison and headed for the trees. Heather and Justin followed, Justin firing several more shots at the girls, though none of them hit their mark. Beth recovered in time to see Justin disappear into the trees.

"LINDSEY!" she screamed, running after the three kidnappers. She tripped on root and hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Before she could catch her breath, Sadie was by her side.

"Let them go." Sadie whispered, as she pulled Beth to her feet.

"No, no, we have to stop them." Beth moaned, but Sadie would hear none of it.

"We can't help Lindsey now." she said. "Let's head back to the hotel and regroup and then we can muster a search party."

Beth nodded and they turned to leave, only to find Katie lying prone, blood streaming from her chest.

**A/N: Okay first of all I just want to let you all know we're nearly at the end people. Only seven chapters to go! That said, there are still many unanswered questions that need to be resolved. What are Heather's ultimate plans? Will Justin stay loyal to Heather or return to the others? Will Duncan get his revenge? Is Katie about to become the next casualty of this war? The answers to all these questions and many more are comming up as we head towards the dramatic conclusion of Endgame pt2! **


	35. A Fallen Friend

"Katie, baby, you gotta hold on, help will be here soon." Sadie held Katie in her arms, comforting her as they waited for the paramedics to arrive. Beth stood nearby talking rapidly on the phone to someone back at the hotel, though Sadie was not sure who. She glanced over at Beth, wanting to say something, but the words escaped her. She looked back at Katie, who was fading quickly, and smiled. Katie returned her smile, though hers was only half-hearted.

"Sadie." Katie croaked. "Sadie, I-I'm not sure-" Sadie placed a finger to Katie's lips, quieting her.

"Shh, don't talk." she said. "Everything is going to be okay." But as Sadie finished her sentence she knew she was wrong. She did not want to admit it, but Katie was long past gone.

For a moment all was silent and then Katie gave a violent lurch, nearly tearing herself free of Sadie's grasp. Sadie pulled her best friend closer, unwilling to let her die without the touch of the one she loved. She stroked Katie's hair, still trying to comfort her.

"S-Sadie." Katie tried speaking again. "I can't feel-" She paused for a moment before continuing. "I want you to know that you have always been my reason for being. I'm sorry it has to end like this, sorry we didn't-" She fell silent again, the effort of speaking draining what was left of her strength.

"No, Katie you have nothing to be sorry for." Sadie said, tears welling in her eyes. "You have always been my reason too, I could never blame you for anything."

"Th-thank you." Katie said, coughing up blood as she spoke. "I love you Sadie, I always have. Be strong for me, make sure that bitch burns. Promise me she will..." Katie's voice trailed off as her eyes closed and her body went limp her life leaving her for the last time.

Sadie stared at Katie's body for a moment, before dissolving into tears. "I promise you Katie, I promise you." she choked. "I will see Heather burn, I will avenge you, even if it is the last thing I do on this God forsaken Earth."

As she finished speaking, Sadie heard the sounds of multiple people moving towards her. For a moment, she only stared at Katie, not wanting to see who had come. But, when she could bare the pain no longer she looked up to see the paramedics along with the other campers. Duncan reached her first and he read the answer they were all seeking in her eyes. It had happened again, Heather had taken another member of their family from them.

Three hours later the campers found themselves in a familiar position. The same oppressive darkness that had plagued them since that war with Dorian had returned once again, but this time they were determined to rid themselves of it for good. The shock of losing Katie, though hard to swallow, was overshadowed by the kidnap of Lindsey and Allison. Any lingering doubts about how serious Heather was about killing them had been obliterated by her actions in the park and the only thing left on the minds of any of the campers was revenge. Still, there were issues that needed to be attended to before they could go after Heather. First and foremost, they had to lay Katie to rest and Sadie would hear no talk against it. Second they needed to come up with a plan that would allow them to both kill Heather and safely rescue Lindsey and Allison. Third, they had to figure out a way to deal with Justin and Silas, preferably in a manner that eliminated their ability to help Heather.

The following morning the campers attended to the first issue as they lay Katie to rest beside Courtney and Ezekiel. They had gone through these motions so many times before that they all seemed to be numbed to the pain. Even Sadie was unusually numb, it seemed she had exhausted all her grief in the immediate moments following Katie's death. Before Katie was lowered beneath the earth, Sadie reaffirmed her promise to kill Heather and thanked Katie for all she had done. Duncan also reaffirmed his promise, adding that he would die before he saw Heather take another member of his family from him.

Several hour after the funeral, the campers set to work on their plans for the final confrontation with Heather. But the planning proved more difficult than any of them had anticipated. After several hours of little progress, an irritated Duncan stormed out of the room for a smoke. Gwen and Trent followed him, hoping to lend him some support.

"Duncan?" Gwen asked, her voice hesitant. "Duncan, are you alright?" Duncan remained silent, ignoring both of them.

"Come on dude, don't do this." said Trent. "Don't go all cold on us, we'll figure something out." Even as he said these words, Trent knew he had no way to back them up. Still, that didn't make them any less true.

"Duncan, please talk to us." Gwen begged, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Talk to you about what?" Duncan snarled, rounding on them. "What do you want to talk about? There's nothing, goddamn it! We have no direction, no plan, and right now Heather has Lindsey and is doing God knows what to her. Talking won't solve anything."

"Then what will?" Gwen asked, suppressing her anger at his outburst.

"Help, we need help." Duncan replied. "But where that help will come from I'm not sure."

"I believe I can help with that." said Izzy from the doorway. The others stood behind her, Tyler staring intently at Duncan.

"How exactly-?" Duncan began, but Gwen held up a hand to silence him.

"You remember John McCormac?" Izzy asked, staring at Duncan.

"The guy who rescued you from the lake, yeah I remember him." Duncan replied. "What about him?"

"When he brought me back to you he told me to call him if I ever needed help." Izzy replied. "I think this counts as a pretty good time to call."

"And you think John and his crew will help us, just like that?" Duncan asked, still skeptical. "Won't they want payment or something?"

"No, they'll help for free, I'm sure of it." Izzy replied, the look in her eyes telling him she wasn't lying.

"Alright, give him a call." said Duncan. "Any help we can get increases our chances of success and we need that right now."

Izzy nodded and made the call. As the campers waited for John's answer, Duncan's mind wandered. He was still unsure about trusting the _Iron Dragon _crew, but Izzy seemed certain they would be willing to help. With any luck, they would provide the push they needed to get over the peak of this mountain. If they weren't, Duncan feared this would be the last time he would see his family together before the fires of hell consumed them all.

**A/N: Okay, three things to address here. One, yes I did kill Katie, but you shouldn't be surprised by character deaths by now so don't complain. Second, yes I am bringing back the crew of the _Iron Dragon_, and they will hlep the campers out, sorta. Finally, if you're wondering why Tyler isn't more upset about his wife's kidnap, well he is really upset, I just chose to focus on Duncan's anger cuz Duncan is the leader and his determination would be more motivating that Tyler's.**


	36. Help Arrives

Lindsey awoke to find herself in a small dark room. She could not remember being knocked out but she figured someone must have done it as Heather would not want her to know where she had been taken. Heather, how had she become such an evil bitch? She and Lindsey had once been close, almost as close as Katie and Sadie were, why had she betrayed them like this? Lindsey had no answers and, at the moment, it didn't really matter why, what mattered was getting the hell out of here. At that moment Lindsey remembered she had had Allison with her when she had been taken, but her daughter was nowhere to be found. For a moment, Lindsey panicked before realizing that Heather would not hurt Allison, she was not that evil. At least Lindsey hoped she wasn't. Wherever Allison was, she was most likely still alive, and if she wasn't then it would be the last time Heather would breathe, if only Lindsey could find a way out of this room.

Sometime later that day, or maybe it was the next, Lindsey wasn't sure, the door to her room opened and Justin entered, carrying a plate of food. Justin did not look at Lindsey as he entered, but she could tell something was wrong. She forced herself to look at him, her eyes searching his face for some sign of what he was feeling, but she could find nothing unusual. After a moment, Justin turned his attention to her, his eyes locking with hers as he did.

"I brought you something to eat." he said, offering her the plate of food.

"I'm not hungry." Lindsey replied, breaking eye contact.

Justin shrugged and set the plate at her feet. For a moment Lindsey continued to stare at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking, before giving up. She grabbed the plate of food and started digging in, not caring what she was eating.

"I thought you weren't hungry." Justin said, cocking an eyebrow.

Lindsey didn't answer and Justin shrugged again. After several minutes of silence, Lindsey looked up, her eyes searching Justin's face once again. "Where's my daughter?" she asked, her eyes coming to rest on his.

"She's being taken care of." Justin answered, looking away.

"What do you mean, taken care of?" Lindsey asked, suddenly wondering if Heather really was evil enough to harm Allison.

"Don't worry Lindsey, we haven't harmed your daughter." Justin replied.

"What do you want from me?" Lindsey asked, still unsure Justin was telling the truth about Allison. "What are you up to Justin?"

"I can't answer that." Justin replied. "Heather's the one with the plans, I'm only helping her." He glanced at Lindsey and could tell from her expression that she was not satisfied with his answer. "Look, I wish I could tell you but I can't, it's not worth the risk."

"The risk of what?" Lindsey asked. "What is it that Heather is doing that makes it so damn dangerous for you to tell me?"

"I'm sorry Lindsey, I can't tell you." Justin replied, his eyes full of pain and regret. At that moment, something occurred to Lindsey she had not previously considered. She looked at Justin, reading the answer to her question before she asked it.

"You don't really want to be here, do you?" she breathed. Justin shook his head and looked away. "Then why are you?" Lindsey asked, her curiosity peaked by Justin's response.

"I love her Lindsey." Justin answered, after a moment of silence. "I love Heather, I always have and I can't let her just run crazy over the rest of you. I joined her so I could stop her, that's the only reason I'm here. I never wanted to kidnap you, but it wasn't my decision to make. I only want to help her, to bring her back to the light."

Lindsey stared at Justin a moment, unsure how to respond. This was not the answer she had expected, not by a long shot. True, she had know that Justin and Heather had been an item, but she had been totally unaware of just how serious Justin was about his love. Finally, Lindsey took Justin's face in her hands. "Justin, look at me." she whispered. "I don't know if Heather can be saved, but I promise you, no matter what happens, I will help you try."

Justin looked at her for a moment before pulling her into a hug. "Thank you." he whispered.

"You're welcome." Lindsey whispered, before Justin released her. At that moment, the door opened again and Silas poked his head in. He motioned for Justin to bring Lindsey and then lead them down a hallway to a large room where Heather stood, Allison in her arms. She turned and smiled as then entered.

"Ah, Lindsey." Heather said. "Welcome to the end of the world as you know it."

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, John and his crew had answered Izzy's call for help. Izzy, Owen, Duncan, and Gwen greeted them as they pulled up in front of the hotel. John smiled at Izzy as he stepped out of the car and she smiled back. Duncan watched John closely, still unsure if he was willing to trust him. He nudged Gwen and whispered, "I got a bad feeling about these guys."

"Duncan, shut up." Gwen muttered. "Izzy wouldn't have called them if we couldn't trust them. I see no reason to doubt her. I mean, they did bring her back to us you know. If they were really untrustworthy, don't you think they would have just, I don't know, killed her or something?"

"Yeah, but we still don't know them." Duncan muttered. "Just because they helped Izzy doesn't mean they're gonna help us. For all we know, their thugs working with Silas and the only reason they came here today is to stop us from killing Heather."

"I heard that." said John, his voice breaking the near silence. He looked directly at Duncan and smiled again. "And just so you know, I'm a doctor and I don't make a habit of hurting people or associating with lowlifes like Silas O'Shea."

"So you know about Silas, do you?" Duncan asked, his suspicions peaking. "How did you come by that knowledge, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Most people in Toronto have heard about Silas O'Shea, his reputation does kinda proceed him." John answered. "And just so you know, I would never even befriend him, let alone work with him, considering he killed two of my closest friends who were cops."

Duncan gave him a guilty grin before speaking. "I'm sorry for that and I didn't mean to offend." he said. "I just want to know who we're dealing with before we go making alliances."

"I understand your concern mate, but I can assure you that any friend of Izzy's is a friend of mine and you can trust me." said John, his voice calm and reassuring. "Still, I agree with you, we should make introductions before moving forward."

Duncan nodded. "Well, I'm Duncan Reynolds." he said. "This here is Gwen McKenzie, and you've already met Izzy and Owen."

"Nice to meet you Duncan." said John. "My name is John McCormac, captain of the _Iron Dragon_ and this is my crew Dax Goodman, Tania Sanchez, Shoji Ruika, and Kyle Holmen." Duncan nodded at each of them, before looking back at John.

"Well, shall we get down to business?" he asked motioning towards the entrance.

"Yes, the sooner we have a plan, the sooner we can save your friend from the traitor who took her." said John.

"You called Heather a traitor, and you don't even know her, how can you know what she is?" Gwen asked, eying John.

"Izzy told me the situation." John replied. "Also, anyone who suddenly starts killing their friends for no apparent reason is what I would call a traitor. And if there is one thing in this world I can't stand it is a person who betrays their friends."

"Oh yeah, I think this is gonna work out just fine." said Duncan, with a chuckle, as he gave John a friendly nod. The others laughed at his joke and followed him inside to begin planning. The final stage of Duncan's hunt had begun.

**A/N: Well folks, we're getting closer. Only four more chapters to go and we'll have all the mysterys resolved. And just so you know, things may not end up quite how you expect.**


	37. Duncan's Final Plan

The campers and the crew of the _Iron Dragon_ gathered in one of the hotel's conference rooms, the anticipation thick in the air. Duncan stood before them, his eyes blazing with an inhuman intensity. He stared around the room, drawing in a calming breath before speaking.

"This is the day that changes everything." he began, his eyes coming to rest on Gwen. "We all know why we are here, so I won't waste time explaining. Ahead of us lays the most difficult challenge we have yet faced, the murder of one of our own. It is not a decision to take lightly, for, despite all the wrongs she has done in recent months, Heather was part of this family and killing her will not be easy. I say this because I know that the taking of human life is something none of us ever wants to do, but we are left with no choice. If any of you, for any reason, have a problem with what we are about to do, then now is your one chance to leave. If you stay, you are with us to the end, there will be no turning back."

"We've all got your back on this Duncan." said Harold. "None of us are going to leave."

"And you understand the conditions with which you must comply?" Duncan asked.

"Yes." Harold replied, meeting Duncan's gaze. The others nodded.

"Alright than, let's get to work." said Duncan. "I have a plan for how I think we should do this, but I would appreciate input from the rest of you."

"Let's hear your plan first, than we can give our input." said Chef.

Duncan nodded. "Okay, here it is." he said. "We know Heather is holed up somewhere in the warehouse district and that she has Justin and Silas with her. I figure, our best bet is to separate the three of them so they can't give each other aid. We split into three teams, with each team assigned to one of the three and then we take them out."

"Okay, that sounds like a pretty good plan." said Trent. "But what about others? Surely Heather, Justin, and Silas will have guards of some kind."

"That's why we go in teams." said Duncan. "It will be the job of each team leader to take down the primary target, while the rest of the team deals with other potential threats."

"What about Lindsey?" Beth asked. "Who's going to retrieve her and Allison?"

"Which ever team is assigned to take out Justin will have that job." Duncan replied. "I figure Justin will be the one guarding Lindsey, as I don't think Heather would trust Silas with the job and she's far too important to do it herself. So, the team tasked with taking out Justin will also have the task of retrieving Lindsey and Allison."

"Are we really planning on killing Justin?" Chris asked, glancing at Duncan.

"He betrayed us didn't he?" Duncan responded, the look in his eyes cold and uncaring.

"There is no proof he went with Heather willingly though." Chris argued. "How can we kill him if he's innocent?"

"Cody saw him leave with her, that's enough of a reason for me." Duncan growled, not looking at the others as he spoke.

"Actually, he did appear to put up a resistance." said Cody. "And didn't look particularly happy with himself even when he chose to go with her."

Duncan glared at Cody a moment before speaking, "Alright, if you all want to keep the bastard alive, we will. But if he is indeed on her side, I will fucking kill him, no questions asked, understood?"

"Okay, anything else?" Noah asked, looking at Duncan.

"No, that's about it." said Duncan. "Any of you have any additions you'd like to make?"

"No, it sounds like a pretty fucking watertight plan to me." said Trent. "I say we get down there and lay waste to the bitch."

"Hold on, I have a question." said John. Duncan looked at him and nodded. "I don't mean to be an asshat, but if you have this thing so well planned, why did you have Izzy call me and my crew? Because we don't need to get involved in something that has no need of us."

Duncan stared at him a moment before answering. "Izzy called you because we need help." he said, looking John in the eye. Like Trent said earlier, there will probably be more than just three people waiting for us, and we could use some help in nullifying that particular problem."

"There's also the fact that you know the warehouse district pretty well." said Izzy, looking from Duncan to John.

"So do you." said John. "If the stories you told us after we pulled you out of the lake are true, you all have quite a bit of experience fighting in the warehouses."

"Look, if you don't want to help, you're welcome to leave." said Duncan. "But make up your mind quickly, we don't have all fucking day."

John looked at his crew and read the answer to his question in their eyes. "We'll stay." he said, glancing at Izzy. "But you have to stop treating us with such disdain."

"Agreed." said Duncan, shaking John's hand.

"Alright, now that that's settled, when do we move out?" D.J. asked.

"Tomorrow morning, at dawn." said Duncan. "Tonight, we prepare and we party, for this may be the last time we get a chance to do this."

The others nodded and they moved to exit the room. Just then a hotel bus boy ran up to them, pressing a note into Duncan's hands before collapsing. Duncan caught him before he hit the floor, noticing the knife in his back as he did.

"Oh, shit!" said Trent. "That bitch is killing innocent civilians now."

"He's not dead." said Duncan. "Quick run to the front desk and tell them to call 911." Trent nodded and took off, while Duncan turned his attention to the note. His eyes scanned the paper quickly, growing darker with every word. Finally, he looked up, his eyes meeting Tyler's.

"What does it say?" Tyler asked, his voice anxious.

"It-we have to move out now." Duncan replied, changing course mid-sentence. With that, he dropped the note and took off towards the elevators, heading upstairs to collect weapons. Gwen picked up the note and read it over twice, her eyes widening in horror, before handing it over to the others. They read it too, finding the words they did not want to read.

_You have one last chance to save her, in twenty four hours she will be dead. H._

**A/N: So there it is, Duncan's final plan. Will it work, well I guess that depends on how quickly the gang carries it out and weather or not Heather is already wise to the plan. Either way, someone is gonna die and we will finally have the conclusion to the story (only three chapters to go!).**


	38. One Last Chance

The campers and their allies made their way down, once again, to the Toronto warehouse district. Like the hospital, the warehouse district was a place they would prefer never to see again, given all the horrible things that had happened to them their, but they didn't have much choice. Heather had chosen to use this place as her base of operations, and if they wanted to rescue Lindsey, they had to return, no matter how badly they didn't want to.

The gang arrived at their destination, but the place seemed to be devoid of all life. "What the fuck?" Duncan growled. "Where the hell is everybody?"

"Maybe Heather knew we were coming and decided to run?" Cody suggested.

"Of course she knew we were coming you fucking idiot." Duncan snapped. "She sent us that message, didn't she? And she's still here, she's got to be."

"Okay, geez." said Cody. "You don't have to be such an asshole."

Duncan opened his mouth to reply, but Gwen nudged him the ribs making him stop. "What?" he asked, looking at her. Gwen pointed towards one of the warehouses, the door of which was hanging part way open.

"You think she's in there?" Duncan asked, with another glance at Gwen.

"I'd say it's a pretty good bet." said Gwen, staring at the door. "It's the only warehouse that appears to have been used in the last few days." She turned to look at the others. "What do you guys think?" she asked. "Should we check and see if Heather's in there?"

"I don't see how it could hurt." said Noah. The others nodded in agreement and the campers slowly made their way forward, ever alert for the possibility of a sneak attack. As they reached the door, Duncan peeked inside pausing as he heard the distinct click of a gun being cocked.

"Shit!" he yelped, as a bullet whizzed past his head. "She's definitely in here."

"Ah, Duncan welcome." Heather's voice called from somewhere inside. "It's so nice to see you again." Her tone was mocking and full of spite. For a moment there was silence and then Heather spoke again. "Silas, Justin would you be kind enough to let our guests in." With that, the doors shuddered all the way open and Silas appeared, beckoning the campers in.

Duncan hesitated before making his way inside, the others following closely behind. He scanned the room, searching for additional threats. After a few seconds he found what he was looking for, soldiers. Trent had been right, there was an army waiting for them. His eyes also found Justin, who was half hidden in shadows, as though he was trying to hide from his family. Duncan could not be sure, but the look on Justin's face seemed to be one of apprehension, maybe even fear. It seemed as though he did not want to be there, at least not in his current role. Behind him, Duncan could feel the growing tension from the others and he knew why as he finally brought his gaze to rest upon the person he had come here to kill.

Heather stood atop a stack of wooden crates, a sinister smile on her face. "So, we come to it at last." she said, her tone still mocking. "I know why you all are here, why you have chosen to cast yourselves into the fire. But I wonder, would you all be so willing to kill me if you knew the truth? If you knew why I did what I did, would you still see me as you do now?" She paused, allowing her words to sink in before continuing. "It seems to me that if you knew, you would be less inclined to so needlessly spill my blood. For you see, I have only done what was necessary. Courtney, Ezekiel, Katie, they were merely sacrifices for the greater good of humanity, and some of you have given me the final sacrifice I need." Her eyes fell on Tyler as she finished speaking.

For a moment, no one spoke, no one moved and then Tyler stepped forward. "Where's my wife and daughter Heather?" he shouted. "What have you done with them?"

Heather smiled. "Don't worry Tyler, Lindsey and Allison are quite well. They have not been harmed and they won't be, I assure you."

"But the message you sent?" Tyler began. "You said she only had twenty four hours."

Heather laughed. "My dear Tyler, you didn't take that note seriously did you? I only sent that to lure you down here. I do not want to kill you, any of you. I simply want you to see the world as I see it, as a place were we can all live in peace."

"Bullshit!" Duncan shouted. "You expect us to believe that shit? You killed Courtney. You killed Zeke. You killed Katie and you expect us to believe that you want us all to live in peace? Fuck you! You're even dumber than I thought."

"Come now Duncan, don't you have even the slightest interest in my vision?" Heather asked, another grin crossing her face.

"Fuck your vision." Duncan replied. "I don't care if you're giving us the fucking world, you killed my wife you fucking traitorous whore and for that you will die."

"Have it your way then." said Heather, her expression suddenly cold. "Silas, Justin, take them." Silas nodded and charged, Duncan sidestepping him before he could land a blow. Within seconds, Silas' soldiers had descended upon the campers and the fight was on.

As the fight raged Heather slipped towards the back of the warehouse, hoping to escape without being noticed. "Time to go." she muttered to herself. "Sorry, Justin but I have more important things to do." She reached the back door and pushed it open, but Tyler spotted her before she could slip out into the night.

"No you don't you bitch!" he shouted, taking of after her, intent on finding Lindsey.

Gwen spied Tyler as he took off. "TYLER!" she screamed, alerting Duncan and Trent.

"Follow him." Duncan shouted, as he and Trent made their way towards Gwen, catching up to her as she slipped out the back.

Ahead of them Heather ran as fast as her legs would carry her, Tyler hot on her heels. She burst in to one of the other warehouses, slamming the door in Tyler's face. Heather made her way to the small room at the other side of the building, and pulled Lindsey and Allison from within. Seconds later, Tyler burst into the warehouse to find Heather standing in the center of the room with Allison in her arms and a gun to Lindsey's head. Tyler froze, his eyes wide.

"Drop it!" Heather snapped, gesturing at Tyler's gun. Tyler hesitated, not wanting to disarm himself in Heather's presence. "Drop it or she dies." Heather ordered, pressing the barrel of her gun against the back of Lindsey's head. Tyler obeyed, letting his gun slide out of his hand without resistance. "Good." said Heather, aiming her gun at him. "Now you can die."

Before she squeeze the trigger however, Duncan, Trent, and Gwen burst into the building. "Freeze bitch!" Duncan shouted, as he approached, his gun aimed at Heather's head. "Give Allison to Lindsey and back away slowly." he ordered. Realizing she was woefully outnumbered, Heather obeyed, handing Allison over to Lindsey and lowering her gun.

"What are you going to Duncan?" Heather asked. "You have me, all alone, without allies, now is your chance to kill me." Duncan hesitated, unsure if he should do it. "What's the matter Duncan?" Heather mocked. "I thought you wanted to kill me? Here I am, so kill me." Still Duncan hesitated. "Kill me!" Heather screamed.

"No." said Duncan, lowering his gun as well. The others looked at him in shock and Heather's eyes widened in surprise. "I won't kill you Heather." Duncan continued. "You may have betrayed us and you may have killed my wife, but I can't do it. It's not what Courtney would want me to do and I won't allow myself to fall into the darkness just to avenge her."

The others stared at him, none of them believing what they were hearing. After a moment Heather began to laugh. "So the true Duncan Reynolds shows his face at last." she said. "I always knew you were just talk. You talk a big game Duncan but when it really matters, you can't do what is necessary to win. So I'll give you one last chance, kill me, if you have the balls."

Duncan glared at her and Heather smiled. For a moment no one moved, and then, without warning, Heather shoved Lindsey towards the others, raising her gun as she did. As Duncan caught Lindsey and Allison, Heather fired off a shot, striking Gwen in the shoulder. A second shot caught Tyler in the chest and then Heather was gone.

Duncan stared at the others for a moment his eyes blazing, and then he tore after her, with only one action on his mind.

**A/N: Okay, so for those of you who thought Heather had a bigger plan than just killing the others cuz she didn't win TDI or TDA you were right, so congrats, I guess. Also, the previous two chapters have contained a tally of the remaining chapters in this fic and I just realized today that those tallies are incorrect. As of chapter 36 there would have been 5 chapters left, 4 left as of chapter 37, and three left as of this chapter (I am not counting the chapter we're on, only those left to publish after this one which is 3). So, there you go, only three chapters left, sorry if I caused any confusion.**


	39. The Reasons We Kill

"DUNCAN!" Gwen screamed, moving to follow him, but Trent threw out a hand to stop her before she could get far.

"No Gwen, let him go." Trent said, casting her a serious look. "This is something Duncan needs to deal with on his own. Besides, we need to get Tyler out of here before he bleeds out." Gwen looked at him and nodded. She wanted to help Duncan, but Trent was right, confronting Heather was something Duncan had to do on his own.

"Alright, lets get back to the others. Bridgette can patch Tyler up." she said, looking at the others. Trent nodded and helped Tyler to his feet. Tyler grunted in pain, one hand clutching the wound in his chest, the other wrapping around Trent's shoulder for support. Gwen helped Lindsey to her feet, careful not to disturb baby Allison, who seemed unfazed by all that had happened. Lindsey smiled, glad to be back in the company of people who were not trying to harm her. Gwen returned her smile and the five of them moved out, heading back to the first warehouse.

They arrived back at ground zero to find it in a state of pure chaos. The others were still locked in combat with Justin, Silas, and Silas' soldiers, and it appeared they had reached a virtual stalemate. A large portion of Silas' soldiers had been killed, and Cody, Beth, Sadie, and Eva had been injured. But, as Gwen, Trent, Tyler, and Lindsey entered, Chef made a move to break the stalemate, as he aimed his gun at Justin's head and squeezed the trigger.

"NO!" Lindsey screamed, as the bullet shot towards Justin. Justin ducked just in time and the bullet struck a soldier behind him. Chef spun to stare at Lindsey, his eyes locking with hers and widening in surprise.

"Lindsey, what the hell?" Chef shouted. "Justin is our enemy, you know that. He was there when you were kidnapped."

"No, he's not." said Lindsey, staring at him in defiance. "Justin only joined Heather because he wanted to save her, not because he supports what she's doing."

"Save her?" Noah asked as he moved forward to assist with Tyler. "Save her from what? Her own selfish desires, because that's impossible. Heather can't be saved from herself." Several of the others nodded in agreement, but Gwen was not so sure. She looked at Justin, searching for signs that he was, in fact, still on their side.

"Is what Lindsey says true?" Gwen asked, her eyes coming to rest on Justin's face. Justin hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"So the truth comes out at last." Silas said, looking from Gwen to Justin. "I always knew Heather was a fool to trust you, but she never listened to me. I guess I'll have to prove to her once again that I'm the one who's always right, not her." With that, Silas raised his gun and fired, the shot striking Justin in the neck. Lindsey screamed, and Chef and Abigail returned Silas' fire, taking him down. Bridgette and Harold ran to Justin's side to help him, but it was clear that he would not make it.

"Justin, hold on man." said Harold. "You gotta hold on."

Justin stared at Harold before choking. "I'm sorry..." he gasped, and then he was still, his eyes going dark as death took him.

Meanwhile, Duncan caught up to Heather six warehouses away. He entered the warehouse, all his senses alert for any sign of his quarry. "Come on Heather, I know you're in here." he shouted, after a moment of silent searching. "Why don't you come out so we can end this?"

"You sure you won't just chicken out again Duncan?" Heather's voice called from somewhere in the shadows. "Because I'd hate to reveal myself if you're not going to stick around for the fight."

Duncan turned and raised his gun. "You already did, you fucking idiot." he shouted, before firing off a shot which missed Heather by an inch.

"Alright, you win Duncan." Heather said, as she stepped into the light. "But I wonder, if what you said earlier about this not being what Courtney would want will prevent you from doing what we both know you want to do."

Duncan glared at her, all of his hatred boiling to the surface. He could feel his hands shaking as he tried to keep himself in check. He could not afford to kill Heather yet, there were still questions which needed answering. Duncan took a deep, steadying breath and looked Heather in the eye. "Why did you do it Heather?" he asked after a moment. "Why did you kill Courtney?"

Heather stared at him a moment before she burst into laughter. "Are you serious?" she asked, after a moment. "You seriously haven't figured it out yet? My God, Duncan you really are a fucking idiot."

Duncan continued to glare at her. "Don't fuck with me Heather, answer the fucking question. Why did you kill my wife?"

"I did it because I wanted to." Heather replied. "Because it seemed like a good idea."

Duncan swung out and backhanded Heather across the face. "I said, DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" he bellowed. "You didn't just kill her for fun, I'm not an idiot. Now tell me why you did it or I will fucking shoot you."

"You do that, and you'll never get an answer." Heather said, smiling as she licked blood from her lip.

Duncan raised his gun, pointing at her face. "Tell me why you killed her." he demanded through clenched teeth.

Heather smiled and nodded. "Alright, if you really want the truth, I'll give you the truth." she sighed. "I killed Courtney because I was tired of being taken for granted. I wanted out. This so called family we belong to was sucking everything out of me and I couldn't take it anymore. So I made my choice, I decided to leave, but I knew none of you would let me just walk away. I had to give you a reason to not want me, to make you hate me, so I killed Courtney. I figured that if I killed someone important like her, the rest of you would have no choice but to hate me, and I was right."

Duncan stared at her, unsure how he should respond to what he had just been told. This was not the explanation he had been expecting, not by a long shot. He had expected Heather to come up with some bullshit about how she had wanted to win TDI and TDA, or something like that, not that she had wanted out.

"Why didn't you just come to us and say something?" he asked, staring at her.

"You wouldn't have listened." Heather replied. "You never listened, that's why I wanted out in the first place. Duncan, you have to understand that I have never been one to trust other people. I've never been in a situation where I was part of something bigger than myself, where I wasn't in control, and I just can't deal with the pressure. I thought I could, but I can't and I was just so angry with the rest of you for making me be something I wasn't."

"So this is all a control thing?" Duncan asked, more confused than ever. "You killed Courtney because you thought she was controlling you?"

"No, I killed her because I thought you all were controlling me." Heather replied. "Didn't you hear what I just said, being a part of your family was making me feel like I was being turned into something I wasn't and I felt like it was your fault, that you were making me stay so you all could hold on to some fantasy about our eternal bonds or whatever. I never believed that just because we all competed together on two reality shows we were all going to automatically be friends and you knew that, you were fully aware of what I really am."

"We didn't make you do anything though." said Duncan, his mind still trying to grasp Heather's words. "Heather you chose to be a part of this family, even after all the bad blood that surfaced during the shows. If what you're saying is true, then why did you stay as long as you did? You could have left at any time and you can't blame us for your own decisions. It's not right."

"I didn't leave sooner because I hoped that I could change and somehow become what you and the others needed me to be, but I couldn't." Heather said "And you're right, it's not right that I blamed you or that I felt I had to kill to make you understand. But its been done, and we can't change it now." She looked at him, waiting for his response.

"No, we can't." Duncan said. "All we can do now is move forward, and unfortunately for you that means you have to die." He paused and looked at her, pained by the look of sorrow on her face. "I don't want to kill you Heather, but I have no choice. You committed crimes against my family and that I will never tolerate."

"I understand Duncan." said Heather, looking at the floor as she spoke. "There are many reasons we kill, I had mine and now you have yours. I don't blame you and I know how difficult it will be for you to do this, so let's just get it over with, shall we?"

Duncan nodded. "I have one request however." he said, glancing at Heather, who cocked an eyebrow. "I want you to be a bitch." Duncan continued. "It will make it easier for me to do what must be done. Can you do that for me?"

Heather stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, come and kill me you stupid fucking prick." she said, with an evil grin on her face.

**A/N: So there you have it, the true reason why Heather betrayed the others. It seems kinda strange I know, but I felt it was a worthy explaination. Also, it allows me to end the fic the way I want to, but you'll have to check back later to find out what that is. Only two chapters to go so get ready for the end, and leave more reviews, please.**


	40. The Endgame: Duncan's Revenge

Duncan smiled to himself, glad to have finally reached to the conclusion of this struggle and then he launched himself at Heather, knocking her gun from her hand. Heather rolled to the right, grabbing Duncan's shirt and slamming him to the ground. Duncan grunted and kicked her in the gut, sending her reeling backwards, giving himself the time to get back to his feet. Heather stumbled forward, raising her fists, but Duncan was faster and he sent her reeling with another shot. Heather shook it off and landed a series of well placed kicks to regain control of the fight.

"Come on Duncan, show me what you've got." she taunted. "You fight like a fucking girl."

"Eat shit, you whore." Duncan spat, before his fist connected with her face.

"A whore am I?" Heather asked, wiping blood from her lip. "Is that really the best insult you can come up with? I've been called worse by Gwen and LeShawna."

"Oh really?" Duncan asked, his anger surfacing again. "They've called you worse? Well by all means Heather, enlighten me with the names Gwen and LeShawna have called you."

"Wouldn't you just love to know?" Heather asked, swinging a led pipe at his head.

"That's why I'm asking, you fucking bag of shit." Duncan growled, as he dodged her swing, and connected with one of his own.

Heather gasped in pain as one of her ribs cracked from the force of Duncan's blow. She glared at him and took another swing with her pipe, connecting with the side of his head. Duncan stumbled and hit the floor, a loud crack resonating as his head smacked the concrete. Before Duncan could recover, Heather was on top of him landing hard shots to his back. Duncan rolled to the left, throwing Heather off of him and pulled himself to his feet, wobbling a bit as a wave of dizzyness washed over him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized he probably had a concussion, judging by how hard his head had hit the floor, but in the heat of battle he couldn't be bothered with checking to be sure. As he struggled to right himself, Duncan felt the hot gush as blood came streaming down his face, but he turned to face his opponent with a look of defiance, not willing to give Heather any sign of weakness.

Heather smiled at her handiwork. "Looks like you've got a bit of a bleeder there." she said, her lips curling into a mocking smile.

"You're about to have one too." Duncan snarled, before punching her full on in the face, grinning at the sick crack of her nose breaking.

Heather hit the floor with a thud, her hands covering her face. "You asshole!" she shouted, her voice slightly muffled by the blood now streaming from her nose. "You broke my fucking nose."

"Sorry love, this is fight and no fight is fair." said Duncan. "I took the opportunity you gave me and made the most of it."

"I see what your plan is." said Heather, lowering her hands. "You're trying to ugly me up before you kill me, aren't you?"

"Now why would I do a thing like that?" Duncan asked, his voice mocking.

"I don't know, maybe because you're a fucking asshole!" Heather shouted, nailing him with a roundhouse kick that sent him sprawling. As Duncan pulled himself to his feet once again, Heather moved towards the stairs which lead to the scaffolding above. Duncan glanced around, for a moment confused as to where she had gone, before finding her above.

"Come and get me Duncan." Heather shouted, wiping blood from her nose.

Duncan stared at her, but did not move. He knew he had to follow her if he wanted to continue this brawl, but the idea of fighting on scaffolding that looked as though it could collapse at any moment was not very appealing. "No, you get your ass back down here." he shouted.

"Sorry, can't do that." said Heather. "I'm taking this fight to another level. If you want to kill me you have to come up here. If you don't, than stay down there like a coward. Your endgame, your choice." She grinned, her eyes alight with maddening joy at Duncan's predicament.

Duncan glared at her, his hatred boiling. He did not want to give in to Heather's twisted games, but he could see no way around them. "Fuck!" he shouted, his frustration getting the better of him. Without another look at Heather he made his way up the stairs, Heather's grin getting wider with each step he took.

"Alright, I'm up here." Duncan growled, once he reached the top. "Why do we have to fight up here again?" Heather simply continued to smile. Duncan shrugged, he had no idea why she was acting this way and he really didn't care. Maybe she had lost her mind. Cautiously, Duncan inched towards Heather, and then, without warning, her heel connected with his face. Duncan shook the blow off quickly and drilled Heather in the ribs for a second time, cracking another.

For several moments the two of them traded blows atop the scaffolding, moving ever closer to a stack of wooden crates and sheets of glass as they did. Finally, when they were directly above the crates, Heather threw another kick at Duncan, sending him over the edge of the railing. As he fell, Duncan caught Heather by the ankle, pulling her down with him. They hit the crates with a deafening crash and then everything went silent.

A few moments later Duncan came to, covered in dust and splintered wood. He grunted in pain as he sat up, finding a shard of glass wedged in his shoulder. He laughed as he pulled the shard from his flesh, the pain somehow refreshing. "Heather?" he asked. "Heather, you still alive?"

"Urgh, yeah." Heather replied. "God that fucking hurts." She gasped as she crawled towards him, blood streaming from multiple wounds. The two of them stared at on another a moment before getting to their feet, both of them wobbly as they each tried to shake off the effects of the fall.

"Looks like your plan to off us both didn't work out quite how you wanted." said Duncan.

"You're assuming that's what I was trying to do." said Heather. "Only one of us can walk away from this, and it's going to be you. The point of that stunt was to prove that I can still inflict damage on the man destined to kill me, nothing more."

"Yeah, well you went a little extreme there, don't you think?" Duncan asked. Heather didn't answer, instead choosing to throw herself at him, knocking him back down. Duncan rolled, tossing her aside and scrambled to his feet, heading towards their guns. Heather dove, trying to trip him up, missing him by half an inch as he quickened his pace. Duncan looked back over his shoulder as Heather hurled a chunk of concrete at him. He dove to avoid contact, reaching for his gun as he did. He rolled, firing off two shots as he did, both of them striking Heather in the chest. Heather froze, staring at Duncan a moment before collapsing. Duncan sighed, staring at her motionless body for a moment it as realization washed over him; it was over, he had done it, he had taken Heather out.

He crawled over to her, finding her still breathing, though it was obvious she was gone. He gently took her in his arms, lifting her off the cold pavement. She flinched as he touched her, a shuddering gasp rising from her throat as blood rushed into her lungs. Duncan touched her face, knowing that he had done the one thing he had promised himself he would never do. He had taken the life of a member of his family. He stared into Heather's eyes, seeing the remorse and pain she felt for all she had done.

"D-Duncan." she gasped. "I...I am so sorry for...everything I have done. Know that I do not blame you for...what you have done here today." Tears began to roll down Heather's cheeks and Duncan had to look away from her to keep himself from breaking down. In all the time they had know each other, Duncan had wanted to take Heather's life many times without any thought about how he would feel about it afterwards. But now that he had taken her life, it was more painful than he had ever imagined it could be.

"Heather." Duncan said, after a moment of silence. "Heather, I am so sorry-" but Heather cut him off.

"Don't." she whispered. "Don't pity me." She choked, "I...I...don't-" her voice cut off as her head slumped back and her eyes went dark. Duncan stared at her for a moment and then he broke down, the weight of what he had just done crashing down upon him. For a moment Duncan sat in silence before retrieving the guns and lifting Heather's limp body. He then turned and walked out of the warehouse without a backwards glance.

Back at the first warehouse, the others sat in silence, all of them too shocked to speak. Tyler was propped up against the wall, Bridgette kneeling next to him as she tended to his wound. Trent stood near the entrance, staring out into the night. Gwen stood next to him, her injured shoulder bandaged. Geoff sat on the floor next to Bridgette and Tyler, watching his wife work. D.J., Abigail, Chef, John, and Dax stood guard over the few soldiers who were left. Tania, Shoji, Kyle, Beth, Cody, Eva, and Sadie sat against the wall, their wounds also bandaged. Noah stood next to Eva, his eyes on the door. Harold, LeShawna, Owen, and Izzy sat by the injured. And Lindsey stood next to the entrance, Allison cradled in her arms, her eyes fixed on Justin's motionless form.

Just then Duncan walked in from the other side of the building. The others all turned at the sound of his shoes on the concrete. He did not look at them, as he scanned the room looking for one person in particular, his eyes narrowing when he did. For a moment he simply stood there and then he made his way over to Justin, laying Heather's body next to his. He knelt next to the two of them for a moment, saying a silent prayer before looking at the others. "It's done." he said, his voice echoing in the silent room.

Lindsey walked over to him, her eyes meeting his. "This was not the way I wanted this to end." she whispered.

"It's not the way any of us wanted it to end." Duncan corrected her. "But sometimes things happen that are outside of our control and we just have to roll with it. I want you all to know that Heather died a member of this family. She showed remorse for her actions and before any of you ask, I know it was genuine, I could see in her eyes that she was sorry."

"So why did you kill her?" Noah asked. "I mean, if she repented, what reason was there to take her life? Doesn't that make you just like her?"

Duncan sighed. "She asked me to kill her." he replied, looking away from their stares.

"What?" Geoff asked. "She asked you to kill her, why would she do that? I thought she wanted to kill all of us?"

"She did." Duncan replied. "She wanted out. She wanted to leave our family and she didn't think we would let her, so she decided to make us hate her. That's why she killed the others. I know she wasn't lying, I looked into her eyes, into her soul I suppose, and saw the truth as clearly as see all of you. Heather wanted it to end and she decided to use us as her way out."

The others stared at him a moment, to stunned by this revelation to respond. Finally Tyler broke the silence. "I always knew Heather was a stupid kind of crazy." he croaked.

"Yeah, it's so like her to use us to end her life." Eva agreed. "I mean, if she really wanted to end it all why didn't-?" A loud growl from Duncan cut her short.

"Would you assholes shut the fuck up!" he growled through clenched teeth. "Heather may have done horrible things to us, and yes she used us, but you weren't there. You didn't have to see her die, you didn't have to see the sorrow and pain she had in her eyes when she went. I did, I saw it, I saw it all, I did it goddamn it. I killed her and now I have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. I don't care what you all feel, Heather was a part of this family and you will show her the proper respect or I will send you after her."

The others stared at him and then at one another, knowing he was right. They may have hated Heather, but she had been a part of their family and they would acknowledge that, whether they wanted to or not.

Early the next morning, the campers found themselves at the cemetery once again. They stood in a silent circle around two freshly dug graves which now contained the bodies of Heather and Justin. Beside them stood the graves of the other three they had lost. The familiar hollow feeling of loss had settled in their souls once again and this time it would never leave. The campers had reached the point of no return in the emotional flood and their lives would never be the same again.

"This is the end of the world as we know it." Lindsey said, looking around the circle. "From this moment forward we will be forced to live with the scars of what has happened to us in these last few months. But if we have learned anything from adversity it is that the only way to deal with it is to move forward and hope that tomorrow is a better day."

The others each said their respects and then, one by one, they made their way out of the cemetery. Noah and Eva exited first, followed by Sadie, D.J. and Abigail, Harold and LeShawna, Tyler, Lindsey, and Allison, Cody and Beth, Izzy and Owen, Chris, Chef, Geoff and Bridgette, and finally Trent and Gwen, who both patted Duncan on the shoulder before leaving.

But Duncan remained, staring at the graves in silence. His mind wandered as he thought about all that they had endured since the reunion. Two wars, an abundance of loss, some unexpected returns, and a few bright spots along the way. He sighed as the realization washed over him. It was not the end he had expected. He had gotten his revenge, but at what cost? Had Heather's life really been worth the satisfaction of revenge, satisfaction which did not exist? Duncan knew that it was not, but there was nothing he could do now. Lindsey was right, all that was left now was the future and what it held. With one last glance at the graves and another sigh, Duncan turned and walked out of the cemetery and into the clouds of the future, leaving behind the last shards of his old life.

**A/N: And there you have it, the end of Endgame part 2 (well, almost since there is still the epilogue, but whatever, this is the technical end right here). I know some of you will be disapointed that Duncan got the glory again, and all I have to say to that is, remember that he does not see it as a glorious victory. He sees it as the death of the once perfect life he and the others lived, and ultimately lost because of selfishness and mindless destruction. So let this be a lesson for us all, violence and hatred do not lead to a better world. Only through love and compassion can we bulid something better. It's a lesson the campers had to learn the hard way and I hope none of us have to experience this kind of lesson ourselves. Thanks for reading and don't forget to check back for the epilogue.**


	41. Epilogue: Two Years Later

Gwen sat alone, staring out into the distance, her eyes blurred by tears. "I wish you all were here." she whispered. "It hurts so much knowing that you will never get a chance to meet my kids." She paused and looked down at her belly, bulging from nearly seven months of pregnancy. "They're mine and Trent's." she continued. "I know they'll be beautiful, and I can't wait to meet them." Again, she paused, her eyes focusing on something in the distance. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want you to know that if there was a way for me to change what happened I would. I never wanted things to happen the way they did, but like Duncan said, sometimes things happen that we can't control. But if had the power, I would change it all. I would give you back your lives and I would make sure we were all together again, not cold and alone like we are now. That has always been one of my greatest fears, that we would all end up alone, but now I know we never will."

"You're damn right we never will." said a voice from behind her, as someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Gwen looked up, her eyes meeting Duncan's. She smiled and got to her feet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, glancing at the punk. Duncan smiled and moved to place flowers on Courtney's grave. "It still hurts, doesn't it?" Gwen asked. Duncan nodded and looked at the other graves.

"How about you?" he asked. "How are you doing?" Gwen looked at him, but didn't answer. She was not sure how she felt, it had only been two months since the accident, and the pain was still close to her heart. But she was coping, given the circumstances. Her eyes fell upon the graves again and for a moment they were silent, and then Duncan spoke again.

"Has it really been two years since we lost them?" he asked. "I don't think the pain will ever leave."

"No." Gwen agreed. "The pain will never go away, but we still have each other to help ease the suffering. And we still have the future." Duncan nodded and together their eyes traced the names of those they had lost.

_Courtney Anne Reynolds, 1992-2015; Ezekiel Paul Almos, 1992-2015; Katherine Sarah Holmes, 1992-__2015; Justin Myles Marshall, 1992-2015; Heather Gayla Alleyn, 1992-2015_ and one new name, one no one had expected, _Trent Brian McKenzie, 1992-2017_.

They stared at the six headstones for a long moment before Gwen spoke again. "I miss you Trent." she whispered. "Know that no matter what happens, I always loved you first."

Duncan placed an arm around her shoulders. "Trent," he began. "I wish it was you who was standing here today mate, but unfortunately you're not. So, I just want you to know that the promise I made to you will be upheld. I will look after Gwen and I will love your kids as though they were my own. Rest in peace my friend, may your legacy do you justice."

Gwen smiled as they turned and walked out of the cemetery. She had had her doubts, but at this moment she knew everything would be okay.

**A/N: Well, there you go folks, we're finally done! A few notes to mention, first: I know Katie's name is the same as the actress married to Tom Cruise. This was not intentional. Also, as far as the years on the gravestones, the show is not clear on this but I assume that TDI took place in 2009 at which point the characters were 16 (according to Chris). This would put them at 22 as of the Hunted and would put the story in 2015. Trent's death happened in a car crash two years later, hence 2017. Not a great explaination, but there you go. Again, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. **

**p.s. check out my other fics, particularly The Trials of High School.**


End file.
